Dancing in the Shadows
by SoulCry
Summary: Due to a bet between sisters, Katarina found out a secret from the female Kinkou assassin. Now, this secret will mark both their lives for better or worse, whether they like it, or not. They will learn some things better remain dancing in the shadows... KatarinaxAkali Lemon-ish.
1. Chapter 1 - The Bet

**Disclaimer**: We all know this belongs to Riot.

**Author's Note**: This is a tentative project. I regretfully abandoned my other stories due to writing myself into a corner and losing inspiration. This is something new, trying to delve into various new areas. There are some faint ideas for a few more chapters, but time is of the essence in real life lately, so it's hard to write. This chapter actually took a week and a half to write and even then it's not very corrected.

Without any more preamble, I give you this possible story project.

**Edit:** One of the reviewers noted that the scene breakers were missing, so I fixed it. Transition between scenes should be good now.

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Chapter 1 – The bet

The dim light of the setting sun outlined the lone figure currently undertaking an extenuating session of training. A thin sheen of sweat was covering the skin of the female warrior currently going through the daily routine of improving one's body. Stretching fully ahead and landing a swipe at a mentally-constructed enemy, the figure leaned back into a defensive stance, assessing the possible damage dealt.

A severed jugular was the swiftest diagnosis, but the sheer directness of the attack made it pitifully easy to predict and avoid just by leaning back.

Repeating the motions, she followed with a swift flying kick to a pseudo-chest that would've surely landed her opponent, leaving them easy for a follow-up killing strike.

The woman's garments had a clear design for efficiency and not much for fashion except a few designs from her Order and sharing the colour green. Her torso was covered by a simple vest-like cloth, leaving her left shoulder bare and the other covered by a plated shoulder guard, held together by straps running over her shoulders and around her chest. The main cloth continued on towards her mid-shins both in front and behind her in a loincloth style, held at her waist by a big belt with the Order's decorations. Her forearms and legs were protected by long gloves and leggings under plated gauntlets, both covering up to her mid-arm and mid-thigh, respectively. Her face was covered by a facemask, leaving the area around her dark-brown eyes empty and without obstruction. The last piece of attire were two twin hairpieces made of the same material, holding her extremely long hair in a taut pony-tail that swayed with her every move.

In her hands, she held the handles of the pair of Kama she was often trademarked with.

"Akali of the Kinkou." A voice spoke from above the woman. She didn't even bother to acknowledge the spectator, having felt the presence the first moment that the intruder had entered and perched on the supporting beams of the main training facility within the Institute of War. This facility was the only one in the whole building that didn't make any reservations about who used it, having been designed for "improving the social shortcomings between champions of different nations".

There were smaller facilities dedicated for champions of each nation (which were the ones used, mostly), located within the areas of the Institute destined to that nation's use.

For the Fist of Shadow, she didn't care much about who was present during her training sessions. Her fear of her techniques being dissected and countered via spies was made null when she was brought to attention that her battles were being recorded and were publicly accessible.

Thus, she only felt a slight discomfort at being watched, and only because it was a rare occurrence. There was an unspoken rule among the Champions of the League that training sessions were closed-doors to all that weren't socially close.

But why did that rule be broken after so much time? And by a veteran, nonetheless...

The brunette assassin paid the call no mind and continued executing her flawless katas. Right arm in a downward slice, left foot behind to empower the blow, a slight crouch for-

"So you're the Kinkou heiress, I take it?" The voice insisted, this time amusedly.

"Yes." She replied disinterestedly, leaning low for a sweeping kick followed by a lightning-fast blow directed at the abdomen from her kama. Her being the next in line to take the Kinkou mantle wasn't a secret per se, anyways. But what interest was present here?

"You know," The voice started with a mocking tone. "I have a small tree in my room that needs some pruning..." The smirk was almost palpable in the voice. This made the young assassin raise an eyebrow and falter slightly in her movements. It was barely noticeable, but to the trained eyes of both present it was as obvious as wearing bright orange in a forest.

Her position within the Kinkou order and her missions wasn't common knowledge to those outside the Order, though. In fact, it was a guarded secret what responsibility each member of the Order had. Up to the point of making faux rotations every week to throw any spies off the trail of the real agents keeping the careful balance of Valoran. To actually grab hold of such information was either a work of unheard of deduction, an infiltration in the Order to such depth the threat level was immeasurable or Noxus had made a breakthrough in interrogation methods.

It was time to end the games.

She stood up and faced the intruder. Her kama directed to the ground but always ready for a confrontation. "What is it you want, Sinister Blade?"

The figure hidden in the shadows widened the smirk, the teeth glinting in the darkening light coming from the windows. Dipping the head, the other assassin's features were instantly illuminated. Her long lustrous red mane of hair was her main point of attention, followed closely by the long scar running from the middle of the left area of her forehead perpendicular to her nose all the way to half her cheek. Her bright green eyes shined with mischief, a great amount of mystery and a hint of malice. Her usual clothes were composed of practical clothes, but with adornments reflecting the redhead's attitude. A short black skin-tight top, stopping just after her sternum and showing an ample cleavage. Over it, she wore an onyx vest with the sleeves rolled up to the middle of her arm and slightly shorter than the top. Covering her legs, she wore also skin-tight black leggings. Aside from the vast array of blades covering her hips and some belts with skulls as buckles, the only other distinction of her wardrobe were her forearm and shin protectors. Made of metal, they sported large spikes that promised pain almost as much as any of her knives.

She had seen Champions being impaled by those spikes and it hadn't been pretty in the least. Thought the sheer glee the Noxian assassin displayed when she did so was remarkable and a sight to behold. Her face and clothes bathed in red and a grin to make a demon proud.

"You know what me having this knowledge means don't you, Fist of Shadow?" The dark voice of the Noxian assassin mocked and continued straight away, leaving enough time for the Ionian to open her mouth to reply. "Don't bother. It was rhetorical. Though I wonder what the yordle would say..." She placed her index finger under her chin and turned her head in a thinking pose.

This incensed some of the brunette's anger. "Kennen! What did you do to him?!" She directed a kama at the redhead in a clear offensive threat.

"Little ol' me?" Her hand moved to her chest in sign of indignation. Her acting only lasted a second before her usual dark grin broke again. "He did speak a lot, you know?"

"Speak or prepare to die, Noxian!" The green-clad assassin crouched into a battling pose; one Katarina had seen many, many times in the Fields. Anger now shining brightly in her dark eyes.

_Seems I struck a nerve. _Withdrawing two knives from her belt, she raised them up to her face, clearly telegraphing her movements to the one below. Her smirk flashed and she launched her blades to the side, far from the Kinkou and digging into the wall on the other end, acting as a make-shift wall in front of the surveillance orbs. It wouldn't do for the summoners to find out what would happen and she had already been chewed at a lot for shattering several orbs in a multitude of places. Thus, her plan of action was to block their view. Not that there would be anyone actually paying attention to an orb in this room. Soon it would be pitch dark outside and there were few light sources within since this wasn't a continually used facility.

Akali glanced curiously at her actions before understanding why. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. This wasn't the Fields of Justice. If they died here, that's it. No more respawning at the fountain. Something tickled at the back of her head, and it took a while to make her figure out it had been a long lost sense of pure adrenaline having brought about by a fight to the death. The tiredness from having trained for hours quickly seeped from her body.

"But," The Noxian assassin continued as if nothing had happened. "he also drank a lot."

Much of the anger Akali had vanished in an instant, only to be replaced by embarrassment. A faint blush adorned the visible parts of her cheeks. Kennen was famous for speaking anything that came to his mind after getting to a certain state of inebriation. Such a state was ridiculously easy for him to reach, considering his alcohol tolerance was incredibly low.

"I have to admit. That little rat can handle many enemies, but alcohol isn't one." She let out a loud laugh. It wasn't even mocking. It was amused.

"Were you the one that spiked his drink?" The Ionian was no stranger to placing a few drops of a liquid of choice to produce interesting effects in the one drinking. Death being the usual one, unless she was feeling particularly vindictive or the mission stated so.

The Sinister Blade shrugged. "Didn't even need to. Just walked by him to get one for myself and he said: "Heeeeeeeeeeey, Shinishter Blllleeeeiiiddd! Yoush hash a naish piesh of ash there, yeeesshh, ladieee!". It took your other ninja and the blade bitch to save his life from strangling." A dark look crossed the redhead's eyes. While she could handle compliments (her natural beauty made them necessary to do so), such crude ones always riled her up.

More than breathing wrong, at least.

The ninja had the gall to chuckle and snort at her!

Katarina withdrew another pair of knives and any joyful mood died instantly. The redhead stood up slowly, assessing her position unfavourable, and in the blink of an eye was standing a few meters in front of the Kinkou heiress. The common-place frown was more strained than usual.

"Are you here to take down the caretaker of the Tree, Sinister Blade?" Her stance was reshaped.

"Take down..." She repeated before once again breaking out in laughter. Confusion assaulted Akali once again. "You think I'm here to kill you?" She launched her knives to the other side, blocking the other, and final, security orb. "No, no, no, my dear Ionian. I'm here for an _exchange_ of sorts." That characteristic dark grin was plastered on her face.

"Exchange?" Raising a brow, she let the other assassin explain herself.

"Yes, yes." She waved it off. "You see, I've been watching you for a while." She started pacing. "And I can't help but find there are some... peculiarities, you'd say. In all the matches I've seen of you, there's always this glint in your eyes, this unmistakable dark glee etched on your face when the announcer calls a death caused by you." Her bright green eyes glanced at the brunette for a second, gauging her reaction. The clenching of her jaw, clear even through the facemask, and the hardening of her eyes were enough response. "I always thought it was strange an assassin that didn't-"

"I don't know what you're talking about." The Ionian interrupted with a tone of warning.

"Oh, I think you do. You know that perverted pleasure of ending another's life intrinsically." The redhead shot back with a knowing grin.

"Again, I don't know-"

"_Don't_" The sudden harsh whisper in her ear made Akali jump slightly, her intruder having teleported behind her in an instant. "Lie to me, _Akali_. You _can't_ lie to me." Katarina's blade was poised at her throat, halting any retaliatory action. Her kama were removed from her hands and very carefully, knowing what they meant to their owner, put them on the ground out of immediate reach. "Of course you know what I'm talking about." The voice turned husky and seductive, warm breath tickling her ear, a reflexive shudder overcame the brunette. A blush slowly spreading through her face. "That slight rush of energy and adrenaline, coming from _here,_" The Noxian's free hand landed on the base of her spine, a surprisingly pleasant tingle growing. "Quickly travelling up your spine" The hand started tip-toeing very sluggishly her back. "and enveloping you like a blanket." The arm snaked in a flash around her and pulled her tightly against the redhead's chest, minding the spikes. Pain was unnecessary. Today.

Only the Ionian's hard-earned reflexes prevented Akali from jumping at the unexpected "hug".

The redhead smirked evilly. "Nervous?" She purred in her ear, even more sensual than before. That previous shudder returned with a vengeance, and the redhead approved that. It meant she was doing things right. "You know," She continued. "I never noticed, but you've got a very well developed body. I wonder... How many targets did you seduce into death? Mh?" The redhead's arm circling the Ionian assassin caressed her softly and moved to her exposed hips tentatively, almost caringly.

The brunette gulped nervously. Something about the Sinister Blade's touch unnerved her. While she normally would have dealt a swift and final blow at the offender, both the blade at her throat and the curiosity at what the redhead was getting at kept her from acting against her.

Never mind that this touchy-feely Katarina was so different from the ever blood-thirsty and blade-happy she had been so accustomed.

This didn't mean that her head wasn't spinning at the light-speed things were moving.

"I-I didn't-"

"_Don't_." Katarina whispered harshly again. Yet the redhead surprised her again when she felt her place her chin on her shoulder. Her mood seemed to do a 180 right there. "So, my dear Kinkou princess. How many? How many have you entranced with the sway of these hips?" Her hand began pushing and pulling softly, giving action to her words. Akali didn't know if having her personal space invaded so much or the topic the Noxian was speaking made her redden more. "I wonder. Would you dress up for something like this? Make the target focus on you and solely you and this enthralling movement, giving off just the right smile, something like this..." Turning the brunette around, ever mindful of the blade at her throat, she then... _smiled._

She couldn't help it. The blush burned her face at the suggestiveness that smile portrayed and the hand still moving her hip softly. How could the Sinister Blade, one of the champions that everyone knew dealt with death and blood on a daily basis, give off such a sensual and _loving _smile?

"Expecting a blush like that." Katarina continued, but the _smile_ stood there, unnerving the brunette. Something uncalled for was stirring within the Kinkou and she didn't know whether to make heads or tails about it.

Something _warm._

Something that felt oddly inviting and pleasant.

"Perhaps accentuating your waist?" Only Akali's wide belt kept her from feeling the full touch of the hand being placed on the thin of her waist. "Wearing something like this to make them focus here... Slowly speak to them in a soothing tone, some sweet words or maybe some innocent proposal. Something maybe like "_Oh, I've never been to that part of the park._". Somewhere reclusive, I'd guess." The voice turned curious now, almost trying to guess what would happen now in her made-up assassination. Her brows furred slightly, she seemed to enjoy brainstorming while completely forgetting she had been holding the other woman by her waist and a short sword at her throat. Like she was completely used to it.

"I never-" Akali started but the hand holding the blade moved swiftly and a finger was placed on her mouth.

"No." Katarina looked miffed at being interrupted, but more at her denial than anything. "As I was saying, somewhere reclusive. The target would obviously get ideas. Somewhere far away with a gorgeous lady? Everyone would love such a thing." Her smirk returned when she noticed how red Akali's face turned at her compliment. Oh, this was too easy. "Throw in a very farfetched suggestion here and there and before everyone knows it, throw your arms around them. But the smile! Never forget the smile." _That_ smile returned. Akali's heart skipped a beat when the blade was re-sheathed and barely a moment later Katarina's arms were thrown lazily around her neck, latching behind her and keeping a suggestive distance.

Akali's mind went into overdrive in that instant. Was it possible for her to blush more? The redhead was _literally_ throwing herself at her. She needed to get away!

_Why?_ Some deep part of her asked. _Why should she go away?_

It was the lack of response that surprised her more than the sudden heat spreading on her face through the cloth.

For a few seconds all cognitive action halted as she tried in vain to understand what was transpiring. After her brain rebooted, there was still a considerable lag before comprehension dawned.

The redhead was kissing her! Katarina duCouteau, Sinister Blade of Noxus was actually kissing her!

What the fuck?!

The redheaded pulled back slightly after long instants and was looking considerably irked. "That mask has to go." She commented with an air of finality and pulled down her mask.

"Wait! Why a- Mhph!"

It wasn't even close to what it was before. Now it was moist, soft and oh so pleasantly warm. Even the taste was polar opposite. Before she tasted the sour flavour of sweat (probably why the Noxian was miffed), while now it was a sweet taste she had trouble pinpointing. The unusual and extraordinary sensations dazed her, mind going blank, drowning in euphoria and the very pleasurable feelings.

Far away, a hand was placed behind her head, deepening the kiss while the other circled her waist and pulled close. A scalding fire surging between them, something that was amplified within the Kinkou.

Somehow the idea to reciprocate bubbled up and just as she was going to take a leap of faith, Katarina pulled back, a contented grin adorning her face.

"Much better." She smirked. "And kiss them like that, addling them before plunging a dagger between their ribs and into their heart!" She finished with her famous bloodthirsty glint in her eyes.

Every single word went over Akali's head as she was recuperating from the sudden make-out session.

The redhead stared for a second before widening her smirk. "How about going all the way?" She asked in that husky whisper she knew the Kinkou would shiver in barely-repressed pleasure. Or so she thought.

"Wha-" Was the smart reply.

That was enough, it seemed, since Akali would once again be completely surprised when a hand slipped through her vest and got a handful of breast. She couldn't repress the yelp that escaped, but that seemed like the wrong move to do when a half second later Katarina's lips were again on hers.

It was hard to get a coherent thought through when her intruder insisted on plunging her deep in a sea of pleasure, but slowly, fighting how blissful this was, she managed to push the redhead away from her face. Her hands still circling her waist and squeezing her chest.

A bewildered and needy look crossed Katarina's face for a brief instant.

"Stop!" The Ionian huffed and puffed, face beet red. "Wh-why are you d-doing this?" A sudden grope made her moan. "And would you stop it with that!" She tried to swat her hand but she was blocked by the arm.

A shit-eating grin quickly stretched on Katarina's face. She was obviously enjoying this way too much. "Why?" She taunted and pulled her close, wasting no time in continuing to play with her bosom. "You seem to like it."

"S-Ah! Stop it!"

"I really think not."

"W-Why?!" There was a tone of exasperation there, slightly silenced be her biting her lower lip.

Katarina scoffed. "We're both grown women. We both have needs. I'm attending to those. Happy now?" The hand on Akali's back moved up and started to untie the straps keeping the vest there.

"B-But I never-"

"Enough talking!" She proceeded to shut her up with her mouth, her hands moving extra fast to get those pesky clothes off. She quickly succeeded in untying the vest, keeping the brunette pinned to her and busy trying to untie her tongue from hers. Oh, really. This was so easy. It almost seemed as the brunette had no experience at all, but that was clearly impossible. Ninja training covered these things. At least hers had done so and they shouldn't be too far dissimilar.

"Mh... Kat-... Plea-!" The muffled pleas went unheard, her clothes quickly becoming loose around her form. It didn't take long for her sash to be removed.

And then all hell broke loose.

Katarina placed a leg behind hers, and without any warning, she pushed her roughly. Quickly losing footing due to lack of concentration and underhanded tactics, she fell flat on her bare back.

The sudden cold floor against her bare back cleared her brain enough. "What's the big idea?!" She growled at her... attacker?

There was something primal and predatory in the redhead's gaze, and she felt it wise to be wary. Things were spinning out of control too fast and she couldn't adapt at such speeds.

She tried to inch away, but once again it was the wrong move.

Katarina literally _pounced_ on her.

The Noxian pinned her against the floor with her own body, spreading the brunette's legs around hers and quickly grabbing hold of her hands and interlocking their fingers.

"Round 2, Princess." She replied grinning maniacally before dipping her head and capturing Akali's lips for the third time.

Hungrily, almost famished, was her assault, letting go just enough time to get some air. Just as she battled, she liked burning in the throes of passion. Why be slow when ravishing someone nonstop was much more fun? Passion was made to be passionate, after all. Akali's squirms mixed with the moans made it even more delectable and gratifying. Sucking on the brunette's lower lip, she growled. "You like this, don't you, Princess?"

"I do-" The rest was incomprehensible gurgles against a foreign appendage within her mouth.

She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but by the gods did this feel good! The heat was rapidly becoming unbearable and unrelenting, a sheen of sweat reappeared all over her skin and some on Katarina's. The only leniency was the redhead's cool forearm and shin metal guards against her scorching skin was like ice in a desert and just as pleasurable.

Taking advantage of their position and Akali's distraction, the redhead took an easy hold of her captive's hands with only one of hers. The other removed a belt that went from her shoulder to below her armpit. Giving a quick and thorough grope of a breast to keep the brunette dazed, she was rewarded with a rebellious moan. Grinning in success, Katarina took a quick look around and noticed the post holding a training dummy close enough. The grin turned to a dark smirk as she quickly placed Akali's arms between the post and tied her belt tightly enough around her wrists.

Pulling back, her deep maroon lips due to usage split upwards. "Now, Princess, this is where the fun begins."

Akali blinked in confusion before she noticed her binds and turned to outrage. "What is this? Let me go!"

"Uh... No. Not until I make you admit how many times you used your charms to kill or that you love this." Wasting no time, the redhead leaned back slightly and began placing kisses all along Akali's jawbone, traversing eternally slow to her neck, while her hands roamed the Ionian's chest and, curiously, neck and ears.

Akali had to bite down her lips to not let out growls and grunts of pleasure, but her shivers and twitches were completely impossible to withold. She had been thoroughly trained to raise her pain threshold to insane levels with discipline and experience, something most assassins in the league shared, but her trainers had never even whispered to her about resisting this... torture? Whether she liked it or not, her body was clearly enjoying it and made her _extremely_ aware of it. She'd rather "suffer" this than admit to the sex-crazed Noxian she didn't have any experience whatsoever, or, just as embarrassing, that she was really enjoying this.

"L-l-let me- Ah!- go!" She tried but her voice sounded weak and utterly unconvincing.

Katarina halted her ministrations and shot her a smile. "Seems you're liking this. Especially when I play with these tits of yours!" She did so and a sudden loud whimper was heard, confirming her words. "Admit it or I'll continue."

"I c-can't!"

"Well, that's too bad. Guess I'll help myself to these." Crawling back slowly, peeling the vest more and more, she stopped at her waist and, quick as lightning, took a mouthful of a mound, sucking hard.

The shriek didn't take long. Nor was it short. Squeals, moans and squirms abounded as Katarina made her best impression of a starved newborn.

Akali tried with all her might to shake her off her bare torso, but the belt and grip, combined with having her energy sapped due to heat and pleasure, made it a futile attemp. What was worse, she loved the way the redhead nursed, flipping her nipple within her mouth with her tongue and quickly lapping around the areola, leaving absolutely no surface dry, only to start all over. Even her hand making slow circles on her stomach was raising the temperature in leaps. She could feel a growing lump below her stomach, enlarging by the minute due to the ministrations. It wouldn't take long for her to reach that peak of release, mainly due to her lack of experience in this act.

"You taste good..." She heard the comment and very languidly raised her head to look at the source of this situation. She had placed her head on her shoulder and was lackadaisically flicking her tongue at her erect teat, a curtain of red surrounding her face. A hand was casually rolling her other one between the index and thumb. A sight so calm yet erotic, the lump grew several notches. Katarina glanced at her amusedly and made a point of her superiority sucking extra hard, forcing the brunette to squeal in delight and throw her head back. "See? You are powerless now. You better talk."

"N-no!"

"The more you struggle, the more curious I am. That's bad for you. From a certain point of view, of course." Changing tactics, the assailant mirrored her hand's actions with her teeth. Giving it a bite, she was rewarded with a whimper of pain. It seemed so much sensation had made her vulnerable to the least bit of stimulation. "You _really_ don't want to pique my curiosity." The limb currently fondling her chest snaked down like a stalking predator, disappearing within the folds of her clothes.

The feeling of the hand scraping against her belly button and a finger making an unintelligible figure over it, curiously made her shiver in approval. Such a simple thing, and yet she loved it. The digits continued dangerously down.

"Mh? What say you? Do you want to pique it or do I go on?" That shit-eating grin returned full-force and Akali gulped nervously at both implications. Would she really reveal everything or would she let Katarina get to her most secret spot?

Katarina's constant stare did nothing to ease her discomfort and all-around frustration. "I-I-" She stammered. The blush due to the heat on her face impossibly red. "I can't!" She let out, defeated. Her whole body slacked and relaxed her guard instantly. There was nothing to do now except be at the redhead's mercy. She just wished she would finish soon and end her immense embarrassment. Having been seen almost completely naked, being jumped on and worst of all, _liking_ it of all things...

"Well, then..." Her hand continued after her waist, reaching the pubic hairs and loosening her fingers playing within them. Slowly pushing them aside, tugging them and moving them with the palm of her hand. "You take care of yourself down here too? I didn't expect that from you."

_WHY did she have to bring that up? _A mortified Akali thought.

"Then again, with that pony-tail..." Giving the hair a final flattening with her palm, Katarina's digits continued mind-blowingly slow. First the thumb caressing skin a few times, followed an eternity later by the index mirroring the thumb's actions. As the two fingers inched closer and closer to her femininity, Akali grew more restless and nervous by the moment. When a longer stroke from a finger brushed against the folds, Akali began squirming in earnest, trying to shove the redhead off of her before things spiralled completely out of control (more than now, if it was possible).

"Oh, ho ho ho. Feisty, aren't you?" Katarina shot at her and quickly halted her actions by pinching a nipple. _Hard_. "Since you're so rushed..." Her hand shot down and enveloped around the brunette's nether cavity, fingers moving around it like playing a fast piece on Sona's etwahl. Faint defeated twitches and moans came from beneath her. But as her fingers gave the main entrance a passing touch, the Kinkou assassin seemed to gain a second wind.

"N-no! P-Please!" Akali pleaded with her eyes wide in terror.

But the Noxian assassin frowned in exasperation. "It's only sex!" She growled.

"B-but I-I-"

Her body stiffened and her eyes widened for a second. "Wait. Could it be..." She frowned at the sheer impossibility of it. But it was the only explanation. "You're a virgin!?"

The Ionian didn't reply, but her silence, her deepened blush and avoiding her gaze were answer enough.

"You are!" She exclaimed amusedly.

"It's not funny!" Akali shouted at her face, only inches away from hers. "I-I was always immersed in training..." Maybe it was the sudden and forced intimacy or the slowly receding heat and lump in her stomach, but something made her blurt everything.

"But what about that Shen guy? He seems interested in you. Or the yordle, maybe." Katarina's frown turned to a raised brow. This was curious, and a gold mine! The Kinkou heiress was a neonate in terms of sexual relations! The question was, how to _completely _take advantage of this?

"He's... He's with my mom. He just... guards me. And Kennen... we simply aren't interested in each other." The brunette revealed and Katarina grinned at her lecherously.

"You're in luck then." She leaned in up to her face leaving feather-kisses all around her ear and neck. The hot breath reigniting the heat deep in her core.. "I'll teach you _everything_."

* * *

The main mess hall was always a chaotic affair. Constantly filled with various forms of life, hailing from almost every part of the continent (and also sections of The Void), it was a proving ground for the hungry and the strong. Many times fights had broken out with food in between. Either because a favoured dish was in danger of extinction or because Kog'maw was once again engulfing everything in sight. It was hard to win either way, since the former included almost every champion (and some valiant summoners) in the League and the latter meant going against a titanic and defensive Cho'Gath.

For Cassiopeia DuCouteau, sister to the renowned Sinister Blade, it meant a display of such barbarism; she was often tempted to just permanently petrify everyone just to get something in her stomach and some peace. There was no attractiveness in the senseless beat down lunch and sometimes dinner always got down to.

To her sister, however, it seemed to be a training of sorts to beat others to their favourite dishes. And she always revelled in the fights that followed, lashing out with shallow cuts and more than one opponent came out with a stray spike puncture. The redhead never emerged completely unscathed, but the mirth glinting in her eyes after the almost everyday occurrence was unmistakable. Even under scratches and bruises, the contented smirk was always there.

She couldn't understand how someone so... _savage_ came out of the DuCouteau household. Before her forced transformation in the current abomination she was, Cassiopeia was the jewel of Noxus. Graceful, beautiful and with a very sharp wit. Whole parties were held to try to catch her attention and entice her to come. It was an unspoken rule that whenever the youngest of the sisters assisted, most of the high-seats of Noxus weren't far behind. Mostly due to the massive information network the now-Gorgon had painstakingly formed. There wasn't much going on within the city-estate that Cassiopeia didn't hear about.

Some of that network had kept on, but refocused on the League. That brought on curious information about some developments happening within. Most were inane social relationships that everyone mostly knew or had big suspicions on.

One of the facts written in stone, was that the Ionian Trio, as some called the Kinkou ninja, were forever stoic and expressionless whenever they were around other people. Yet, this morning they seemed to be preoccupied with trying to get something out of the only female, and it seemed to be something that distressed her because she was both frowning and replying with some harsh body language.

_Trouble in paradise? _She smirked as she took notice of the Trio, slithering her way towards her usual spot in front of her sister. _I wonder if she actually..._

"Hello, sssissster." She hissed arrogantly, as was always her manner. A hand placed slowly on the redhead's shoulder and softly passed it to the other shoulder. "Are you ready to pay up?" She added and sat down facing Katarina, a triumphant grin on her face that was supported on her folded hands.

The older sister frowned at her. "No."

"Oh?" A brow was raised. "Wasss it that bad? I would assssume you would at leassst know what to do..."

"Don't bring up those petty insults. You know full well my capabilities." Of course, she meant within the battlefield and outside. "Things went... unexpectedly." There was a brief flicker of her eyes far behind the Gorgon.

"Oh. I assssume you were interrupted, then. Doesssn't matter. Pay up, dear sssissster." She held up a hand.

"Cass, she was a virgin."

Now, _that_ she didn't expect. Her brows shot up so high Katarina was surprised they were still stuck on her scaly skin.

"You're telling me, _that_ _girl_ was a _virgin_? _Really_?" Such was her surprise that her serpentine accent came out very thick. Oh, this was a goldmine! There was so much profit she could take from this. Oh, the blackmail! Sweet and relentless blackmail. The weapon of the strong against their peers, and a lesson. Keep your weaknesses very hidden. Something else popped up in the Serpent's head. "Do you know the implications of this, Katarina?"

"Yeah. I'm fifty gold richer." She grinned jokingly. The serious gaze her sister held her under made her sigh. So much for trying to let go as _she_ had suggested. "Yes, sis. I know."

Their bet was simple. Try and seduce the Kinkou heiress into revealing some info about the Order. Fifty gold were the stakes for any piece of information or succeeding in bedding the Fist of Shadow. This changed the rules of the bet, _drastically_. Not that they minded in the least when this came to light.

"I assssume you plan on taking an advantage?" There was so much _damage_ that could be done to the Kinkou Order by playing Akali like a fiddle.

Katarina stretched her classic evil smirk, her eyes locking on the brunette currently berating her companions for not leaving her alone. "My dear sister, I'm _always_ taking an advantage."

* * *

**Final note**: What do you think? Feedback might force me to actually put forth some effort into this story (which I hate to admit but I like).

Later,

Soulcry.


	2. Chapter 2 - Flush It!

**Disclaimer:** We all know this belongs to Riot.

**Author's Note**: This project continues to walk ahead, despite me not understanding why I'm slowly liking it more and more. Feedback has been really good (Thank you, guys! I really appreciate it!) and that has kept me going.

I will not delve any more in inanities. Time for the second chapter!

**Edit:** One of the reviewers noted that the scene breakers were missing, so I fixed it. Transition between scenes should be good now.

* * *

_**Chapter 2 - Flush it!**_

Akali's last two weeks were not good.

Scratch that, they were terrible.

Ever since that night when the Sinister Blade had intruded on her and proceeded to plunge her into an extremely long night of passion and sexual discovery, she had been having serious issues concentrating.

Unfortunately, that carried on to her duty on the Fields and her skill and prestige suffered for it. Just how could she focus when her mind was constantly telling her just how good Miss Fortune's backside bubbled when she strutted away? Or worse, when she had to face Irelia, she couldn't pry her eyes off her figure and not for reading her next move. That's not even mentioning when she had to face down Katarina herself.

Those were simply disastrous.

Even the redhead had berated her for losing focus and professionalism. In her own snarky way, at least.

Still, that permanent sliver of warmth that had been awoken by the lecherous Noxian never ceased to make its presence known.

Currently, Akali was in one of the bathrooms far away from the main summoning arena, where champions were brought to the Fields of Justice, leaning over a sink. Her facemask was removed and her face was dripping water, having splashed it several times to refocus. She had just ended another match in the Fields, and once again she had brought down the team. They did manage to score a victory, but there was little to nothing she did to help.

What did her fellow Kinkou think of her now?

Were they still as worried as they were the morning after? True, she had acted very out of character, failing to greet them or to follow any conversation with them whatsoever.

It wasn't a surprise the hyperactive Kennen pestered her senselessly to tell them what was wrong. She just couldn't tell them.

"I was training my ass off and suddenly Katarina, yeah, _that _Katarina, appeared, binded me and then we had hot, steamy sex for hours." Thar'd go as well as forcing Vladimir to stay away from blood.

Would they be embarrassed at her weakness, be sensible or actually shun her?

No, better keep this development to herself and not find out. She'd have to force her classic persona into place. She knew that if Shen found out, her mother would quickly follow, a thought that made shudder.

While her mother was a caring woman, she was extremely strict in training and studies, something that carried on from the war with Noxus. The woman had seen firsthand what the lack of discipline did against the "survival of the fittest" Noxian army. It was that fire that prompted her to extend her abilities and later on become head of the Kinkou, Akali following her steps closely.

Of course, this meant there was a bitter and ever-burning hate for everything Noxian, bordering on the irrational, and that was what the Ionian assassin wanted to avoid. She didn't know what her mother would do, and that was what scared her the most.

She was the leader of an order of assassins keeping peace across the whole continent for a reason.

What would her fellow Ionian champions think?

Ugh. So much thinking about what ifs made her head hurt in the long run. Sighing in defeat, Akali splashed her face again to refocus.

She needed to confront the redhead and set thing straight.

And what was wrong?

Sure, Katarina had _technically _abused her, but that didn't mean she was harmed physically or psychologically. The only harm that was made was her jumpstarting of her hormones, which had been repressed due to her constant training. Her medical studies told her it was natural to have bodily needs and tend to them, but she never had the urge to act upon them.

Now, her only option was to bear with the distraction until she got used to it and went back to normal. Granted, there would be plenty of experimentation (a certain curious spark about the limits of pleasure a body could take had also been fired by Katarina), but she was certain things would eventually return to its course. That fling would remain in the past.

Only...

_Why_ had she come to her of all people?

It made no sense. They respected each other's skill in battle, but that was the extent of their relationship. If there was one.

She had spoken about similarities but-

_BLAM!_

The sound of the bathroom's door being slammed against the wall made her jump in surprise.

Speak of the devil...

Katarina was standing on the door, an arm stretched keeping the door open. Her eyes carefully analyzing the interior, every nook and cranny, avoiding the green-clad ninja.

"K-Katarina!" Akali gasped nervously. She cursed the effect this woman had on her. Just her presence and she became tingly all over...

The redhead ignored the call and walked inside, towards the stalls. Acting as if Akali wasn't there.

"What are you doing here?" The brunette carried on. This bathroom wasn't near the Noxus section of the Institute. "This isn't cl..." Her voice quieted down when the newcomer did something peculiar.

She crouched on the floor and peered under the gap of the closed door, after a second, she got up and repeated her actions on the next stall.

Akali frowned in curiosity. "What are you doing?" She parroted. This time with a tinge of curiosity.

There was no reply.

The redhead continued undisturbed with all the stalls. Once she finished, still crouched, she looked around for something.

Akali watched her carry on with her task frowning slightly and a slight blush. Now that everything was illuminated and there were no distractions from the heat of battle, there was nothing impeding her from noticing how Katarina's pants tightened with her current position, specially around that shapely, round-

Her assessment was cut short abruptly when the owner of the body she was staring at stood up and faced her.

The heated and penetrating stare she was shot back unnerved her. It wasn't that she wasn't used to them by now what with all the intimidating champions, but the fact that it was the Noxian blademaster gave it a peculiar edge.

Without breaking the link, Katarina pushed open the nearest stall and _smiled_. It was that smile Akali came both to fear and tremble with anticipation. It had been an omen of everything that happened that night. Without wasting a moment, the Noxian stepped towards her, eyes gleaming with something unreadable, and reached for her hand.

Her hand slipped into hers, its sudden warmth hitching her breath slightly when their fingers interlocked."W-what is it?" She mentally slapped herself for stammering over something so simple. The blush didn't take long to show itself, though.

The heart-warming smile widened. "Come." She spoke softly. There was something very off. There was a lack of spunk and brashness commonly associated with the Sinister Blade. This woman acted almost like a mother to her child, incredibly caring and loving. A welcomed change, but unnerving nonetheless.

She was pulled by her hand towards the open stall, her mind trying to figure what happened. Her current 180 in attitude sapped any fight she could present, only to be replaced by beffudlement.

Upon arrival, the redhead beauty pushed her in first. "Sit." She commanded, motioning the toilet seat.

Dumbly, Akali followed the order and sat down looking up at her, wondering what she was going to do. A faint voice in the back of her head told her to be wary, but when the Noxian placed her hands on her cheeks smiling _that_ smile that reached her eyes, it was quickly squashed. How could she be on high alert when there was this beautiful woman smiling suggestively only at her?

"Spread your legs." Was her next command. The ninja blushed very bright, remembering very vividly what happened the last time she had told her to do that. Her womanhood had never been so teased, stimulated or downright _played_ with as much than by this beauty. The Ionian did as asked before there was even a chance for questioning, like it was only a natural reaction.

The blademaster, instead of bending her knees, stepped closer and proceeded to sit between her legs, her own on top of the brunette's and dangling besides them. Her arms quickly encircled her neck and her face leant forward slightly, only very few centimeters away from each other.

The body heat she exhuded was immediately felt by Akali, once again remembering vividly their previous carnal night.

"A-are you going t-to k-kiss me?" She whispered haltingly. Her face already so red from the ghost of excitement rousing from within and their proximity.

The redhead's smile turned amused. "Do you want me to?"

"I... don't know."

"For once, be honest with what you want." Was it so strange that Katarina wasn't speaking hostily but rather encouraging?

There was no need for any deep introspection or quest onto oneself for Akali to know what she wanted. Her hormones had been screaming at her for weeks now.

Letting go of the tight leash she had on her self-control, she let her body act as it wanted, preferring to spectate this very pleasant act.

It was the Noxian's turn to be slightly surprised when suddenly her lips were captured by foreign ones, warmth and moistness quickly spreading over them. Katarina smiled knowingly into the kiss and tightened her arms around the brunette. Everything was going well.

The ninja almost melted in her arms. It seemed she had really been struggling with their first night. Which wasn't hard to figure out considering her recent matches' record.

She had berated the Kinkou with the usual tactics, but it was the same as trying to put out Brand with a glass of water. There were simply too many new emotions and hormones wreaking havoc to Akali's mind in too little time for her to cope with them effectively. Helping her would actually be interesting, and the rewards even more.

Quick as Flash, the Noxian's tongue slipped out of her mouth, hellbent on exploring the other hot cavity. It went over every possible corner and even outside of it before it was met with resistance by the other tongue. It commenced as an overwhelming attack on the invader's favour, but slowly, the tide was equaled. The defender learned how to reply until it was more of an enthralling dance than a fight for supremacy.

It was impossible to deny that the Kinkou had a clear prowess for learning physical exercises. The speed she was absorbing anything new seemed to be desperate, like she was trying to make up with the inexperience with sheer will and determination. Katarina was definitely surprised and more than a little pleased with her "apprentice", more for the hidden agenda than the gratification of passing knowledge.

When the need to get some air became overwhelming, the redhead pulled back, face crimson and huffing. "That's... how you do it." She added with a slight smirk. Showing off felt so good sometimes.

"Your tongue?" Was the skeptical but excited reply.

"Liked it?"

The blush deepened. "Y-yeah..."

"Finally you're being honest. What now?" She raised a brow, edging her on.

Akali seemed to struggle with herself, turning away from looking at the woman currently keeping her close.

She felt a hand slip into her clothes and star rubbing her back. "This?" It felt pleasant, very much so. "Or maybe something kinkier?" Was the only warning she got before the other hand flashed to her rear and started massaging it.

That felt much better. She had to visibly struggle with letting go a contented moan. This spurred the redhead on as a signal she was waiting to turn on the heat. The hand on her back loosened the knots on her clothes slowly.

"Wai-" She was quickly silenced. The time for talk was over. It was time to give and take.

Katarina pushed Akali against the wall with her body, smashing their chests together. The warmth the brunette now recognized as a measure to reaching climax jumped up to midway and more when the redhead began rubbing their fronts together, both still lip-locked.

Whimpers and moans were heard from both sides. Their actions turned both on far beyond the point of no return by now.

The friction of their breasts, even with clothes on, was quite a new experience for the Ionian, something that was quickly becoming the norm with these activities. But, boy, did they feel good! Her brain tuned to mush from this point on, barely understanding what the redhead was doing. Nor caring, if she was honest.

A sudden cold on her back shot her back to reality, quickly realizing it was bare and against the wall. She was naked on top already?! How did that hap- "Ah! T-that's...!" Quick as lightning, Katarina mirrored their previous night, engulfing a breast in her mouth, a hand still massaging the ninja's rear energetically.

"Raik dif?" She mumbled grinning evilly.

"I..." A sudden and strong suction on it made her shriek. "Yes! Yes! I love it!" She let out, even more maroon in embarrassment and raw pleasure.

After a single lick that sent shivers all over Akali's body, Katarina looked up at her sexual apprentice's face. The sight was such a turn on. Glassy eyes, mouth agape, cheeks flushed and huffing and puffing cutely. "That's the look I wanted." She commented criptically and removed her vest. "Time for you to learn to give and take." She proceeded to pull up her top, revealing her chest to the dazed ninja who stared at it confusedly for a few moments.

A second later, there was a joining of skin as their chests mashed together in a mass of heat and mind-numbing electricity. The pair was no stranger to feeling the other's skin on close contact, the certain rough sections in their palms, the erotically soft skin of their bellies and torso, and the ever burning nether regions Katarina had so skillfully ignited to a raging inferno. Thus, the slow rubbing of their breasts, combined with the constant lip-lock and tongue wrestling, dazed their minds, preferring to focus more on the bliss clouding their brains.

* * *

Having left a groggy and contented Ionian assassin behind, the eldest of the duCouteau sisters shadowed the corridors of the Institute. It would not do to get caught so into Ionian area, but it was both a necessity (her plan needed to continue according to schedule) and a thrilling experience.

For the duration of their carnal act, she was always half-expecting someone to burst through the door and walk into their loud and sweaty love-making.

Well, there was no actual love for the brunette, but a political and tactical interest that kept her eyes only on the pretty ninja. There was no denying that Akali was attractive. Especially after seeing her face underneath her mask, not to mention her bare curves. And that deer-in-the-headlights look whenever she introduced her to anything new.

A smirk played on her lips as she recalled the satisfied and _happy _smile on the ninja's face before she left. Her plan to woo the brunette was being perfectly executed. There was no faking that look of contented bliss.

Turning around the last corner, the renowned assassin peered around it, scanning for any sentry or person. Only a bit more and she would be out of Ionian territory into neutral grounds. Of course, she would still be under suspicion if she was found so close.

Her senses coming empty-handed, Katarina silently landed on the floor from one of the beams and confidently stepped towards somewhere more associated with her routine.

Soon, she found herself in one the busier areas, the sounds of chatting, arguing, fist-pounding, weapon-clashing and more filled her ears and her chest with an odd sense of belonging. This was her place. Filled with people willing to die for their beliefs and fight to the last ounce of strength for them. Only for her to come and rip it from their cold dead bodies.

Killing someone was easy for an assassin. Killing an ideal was much harder.

She was proud to say she had stomped the battle spirit of many fools just before their lives. Noxus had benefited greatly from disbanding sects and rebellious groups. It meant more brainwashed manpower for their battle front. Better to have them with a mental leash, than dirtying others' minds or the streets with their poisonous words.

Still, her birth nation would need a lot of work to become the epitome of strength it was meant to be. Her plan had a slim chance of absorbing a large amount of power, but most importantly, discipline, into their ranks.

It was a very sensitive ordeal, so it had to be taken into action very carefully. The human mind was the ultimate opponent, and she was playing against a foreign mind and a heart as its aide.

A fitting challenge.

"Sinister Blade?" A voice called nearby. Turning, she was faced with a summoner, clad in classic violet garbs but no distinction to associate with any faction. Uncommon among the magicians, but generally accepted. The summoner's build and height made it obvious it was a male human of slightly taller and thinner proportions. His face was uncovered by the cowl, revealing a man in his mid-thirties. His face seemed tired and not very taken care of if the erratic stubble was any indication, but there was a fire in his eyes that immediately caught her attention. It was determination mixed with outrage.

She had seen it enough to recognize it at first glance.

"A word?" He grit out. His harsh attitude made her raise a brow.

"I am busy, summoner." She shot back and turned to leave.

"I know about that night!" He blurted suddenly. He seemed to calm down, but the people closest had heard it and curious glances were shot at him.

Katarina halted and looked at him intently over her shoulder, shooting a death stare. It seemed to work since he gulped nervously. _Tch, a chicken wants to intimidate me..._

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as if he was making peace with himself. "I know what happened with the Kinkou." He added, more reserved and only for her to hear.

The snarl that adorned the redhead's face was unprecedented, to the point the gutless bastard took a long step back, face marred with fright. She had been flawless! She had taken every precaution and analyzed up to the last detail of the training room's surveillance! How could this mediocre coward know about that?

"You got yourself a meeting. Start walking." Her glacial tone left no room for discussion.

The summoner quickly led her away from the hustle and bustle. His steps were quick and long, each time they were about to reach an intersection, his head flitted rapidly to both sides, very wary of someone.

She didn't even dignify him with an amused smirk at his lack of mental strength. If he did find out about her actions with Akali, then her plan would go down the drain. That was unacceptable.

Still, there were ways to dispose of pesky people. Not like the Institute would miss a summoner that went on a stroll to Zaun...

They halted in front of a brown wooden door with a drawing of two shaking hands, the agreed symbol for a meeting room.

Waiting for him to enter first in case it was a trap, she eyed him disable the security measures within the room. Standard issue for meetings that never happened.

After they entered and closed the door, the unnamed summoner quickly found a glinting blade at his throat and an enraged redhead glaring all the hate in the world holding it. "Speak, fucker. Fast."

Despite having his life hanging on a thread, he looked calmer than he should.

"The Insitute's not the only one with surveillance devices. Some curious summoners (and some perverted ones) installed their own around the building." Her disgusted face only added to the burning fury on her features, but he went on, as if spurred to finally let it go. "I planted one in the training room you so wisely decided to defile the Heiress in!" His voice increased in volume until he was shouting. "You bitch! How dare you-" A sharp pain on his neck quickly halted his words. The dagger had sliced a shallow cut.

"Listen, you useless imbecile, you don't seem to understand where you're at. I don't care one bit if I slit your throat and dump you in an incinerator or Kog's dinner bucket. Why the _fuck_ would I be intimidated by you?" She spoke slowly and clearly, intent on getting her message accross.

His lips quivered. He had no experience with blackmail, that much was obvious. "I-I-" He stammered, but it was nothing cute like Akali's.

_Where did that come from? _She thought confusedly.

"I r-recorded t-the w-whole thing! If you kill me, it will be sent to someone!" He took a quick step back and raised his arms to protect his face.

Coward.

So he had a safeguard keyed to his heartbeat or something like that. Smart if he knew he was going to blackmail a trained killer.

But futile.

She chuckled for a few moments before it turned into a laugh.

"That's your master plan? 'kill me and I rat you out, blah, blah!'?" Her amused tone quickly vanished. "You really think the Council will believe you over me? They'll even file you for treason! Stupid idiot!" She added a derisive scoff.

"I never said I'd send it to the Council!" He shot back, face red with embarrasment. "I'll send it to the head of the Kinkou!"

Her scowl returned. "So you have some functioning brain cells after all. The head of the Kinkou is a decrepit old lady that should retire. Last chance before I slice you into yeti-food." She raised her blade menacingly.

"The head of the Kinkou hates Noxians! If she knows you ruined her daughter, she would not give a damn about summoner protection!" He added hotly, hanging to this argument like a lifeline.

This did halt the Noxian's advance. He was right. She hated to admit it, but he was right.

If the whole Kinkou order, which kept a semblance of order on the continent, devoted all its resources to strike her down, she would inevitably die. Especially since she was a renowned person around Valoran. Her fame was both a blessing and a curse. While Noxus would be a stronghold for her, there was no predicting the lengths the Kinkou's leader would go to get her head. It wouldn't be the first time a Noxian had fallen within the city-state's walls.

And if she did fall, it was a sure thing she would be removed from any of the history books of Noxus for failing the nation over something as simple as having sex.

She sheathed her blade. "What do you want?"

He blinked stupidly. "Sorry?"

A growl escaped her lips. "You're blackmailing me for something. What is it?" Her snarl made it very understood that this was the last thing she'd rather do.

Nervously, he turned his head to a side and fiddled with the hem of his robe. "I...I just want Akali to be safe..." He confessed, turning bright red.

Katarina could hardly believe her ears. This idiot was threatening her life and the possible future of the Noxian army for... this? She could go with that. It wouldn't be the first time she acted. "That's it?" She laughed, this time purely amused. "I have no wish to harm her." _Yet._

The man did a complete hundred-eighty at this, his arm stretched and accusatory finger was poised in her direction. "Do not take me for an idiot, Sinister Blade!" He bellowed suddenly. "I care not whether you have a secret agenda or you have to satisfy your whorish needs with women, but magic help me if you harm a single hair on the Heiress' head! The Kinkou will be the least of your worries, you traitorous slut!" Spittle flew from his mouth, his raised voice echoing loudly around the walls, like an omen of death and a promise of retribution.

Furrowing her brow, the Noxian beauty repressed the urge to flay this insect alive for his insults. She had encountered preposterous and disrespectful people around her jobs, but this thorn in her side was quickly rising in the rankings. It added that she had no idea what kind of fail-safe he had keyed to his death.

He was a weasel, a coward and scum.

Crafty, but scum nonetheless.

"This meeting is over." He said suddenly, striding towards the door with a rushed gait. Reaching the doorknob, he turned back slightly, the brighter light from outside shadowing his face threateningly. "Never forget. I'll be watching. If you take a single step out of bounds or hurt her in any way... Run. Run because nowhere will be safe. Never forget, Noxian."

He closed the door.

* * *

**Final note**: The plot thickens! Did you really believe this was going to be slight softcore smut? Oh, no. This is but the tip of the iceberg in my plans. I have no idea if this story will be finished at some point, but I have a few ideas for late-to-end story.

As always, feedback is greatly appreciated.

Later,

Soulcry.


	3. Chapter 3 - Red Cross

**Disclaimer:** We all know this belongs to Riot.

**Author's Note:** First of all, I have to thank all of you guys for your positive feedback. It has kept me going when I almost wrote myself to a wall and considered discarding this story. I got a second wind and managed to get many ideas to keep this going. I still have no promises about how far I'll get with this, but I think I'll reach far.

Second of all, I have to apologize. Life has caught up with me. Getting a job has seriously cut my leisure time and thus this story suffers (as well as my other hobbies).

But enough lame excuses. They are irrelevant. What is important, is that here's a new chapter!

* * *

_**Chapter 3 - Red cross**_

"Hello, Cass."

"Oh, hello, sssissster." The poisonous gorgon chirped back. Her tone had a certain note of happiness, despite the reason they were there.

The younger DuCouteau had always felt at home in gatherings of many people, regardless of the occasion. Many did not understand and avoided such crowds. The constant chitter chatter, the underlying mumble of a large number of people communicating, eating and laughing got too dense for most soon enough.

There was no such limitation for the Serpent. She baskered in the attention and the hustle and bustle, the constant denial of silence. It was one of the reasons she wasn't fond of the Fields.

So much silence...

But not only the sounds called her social persona.

It was the smell.

Even before her forced transformation, Cassiopeia had a good nose to distinguish many scents, from cheap cologne to the most refined of toppings in a delicacy. The cacophony of scents allowed her to drown in the forbidden knowledge such an unsuspected thing brought. It was easy for her to know the reason a woman stank of cheap wine or a man was smothered in a sharp perfume. It fuelled her gossiping spree, not to mention the potential blackmail or bargaining chip the information could be.

After all, Cassiopeia du Couteau held strength more in manipulations and deceptions than in brawling. Soiling one's hands fighting was too crass in her opinion.

Her sister at least had seen the light somewhat and adopted a few of her controlling streaks, but her adoration for battle and her seemingly endless bloodlust was beyond the Gorgon's efforts.

The redhead would never understand the skill and thought behind her plans, preferring to go head-on rather than force others to do it for her.

Or why, surrounded by most of the League's champions, she was contented with the treasure cove of information she was being drowned in.

"Next!" A voice called over the faint mumble of the champions.

"That smile again." Katarina commented shaking her head slightly, her long mane cascading in waves. "You're happy here? Serious?"

The younger sister eyed her amusedly. "You know me all too well, sssissster."

"How could I not after you dragged me to all those 'parties'? Hours of boring socializing."

"But you learned, didn't you?"

"Do you seriously expect me to find enlightening how much sugar goes in a tea or why clear coloured dress go well with dark shoes?" She shot back with a sardonically raised brow.

The younger sister smiled. "But you remember, though."

The blademaster's face turned to stone. "There was nothing else to do. And you took my knives."

"Glad I did!" She exclaimed. "I can only imagine how many weeks before the servants finished cleaning the blood on the walls and I'd have anoher party!"

Silence hung in the air for a few seconds, before breaking with their laughter. Curious glances were shot at the pair. It wasn't often the Grim Sisters showed mirth openly.

"So, sssissster," The Gorgon continued when they calmed down. "How's it going?" She added shooting a sideways glance at the assassin currently leaning against the wall, her arms crossed.

A frustrated grunt. "Good."

It was obvious it didn't.

"Beverage?" She offered.

"No. Later."

So it wasn't for public ears. Her refusal at getting something to drink proved it. Something had to have happened for her to react so strongly. Perhaps their target had grown a backbone? Unsurprising considering who it was.

"Next!" The same deep voice bellowed.

A bulky gargoyle passed by them. The Demacian watchdog eyed the pair distrustfully, glinting his teeth in a faux growl.

It was Cassiopeia who hissed back at him, the older sibling preferring to stare inexpressively back.

"The nerve!" Cassiopeia growled once he was out of earshot. She was still sensitive about the undeniable loss she suffered in their last confrontation.

Katarina made a quick sweep around the room.

It was a wide room, almost as big as the mess hall but with next to no seats, since it was the main entrance hall to the Institute. The room was decorated with classic columns engraved with meaningless symbols, some maroon curtains hanging from the vast windows and a long but thin carpet of the same colour running the length of the hall.

The champions were gathered there for an emergency medical treatment. It was no surprise they kept to their own common circles of nation or acquaintance.

She eyed the rest of the Demacians laughing at a joke Lux had wittily offered standing near one of the strategic columns; The Ionians silently watching the procession of people towards the infirmary on the opposite wall; The yordles being their typical noisy selves around the other main factions and the Noxians huddled in a corner watching everyone else like a hawk.

The only ones missing in that group were the DuCouteau sisters, who were hanging very close to the infirmary, mainly due to the youngest's constant curiosity.

"He dares gloat his victory, rubbing it in my face!" Her eyes glowed with malice, teeth barred in a feral snarl. "Next time... next time I'll make a dress out of his skin!"

Katarina eyed her fuming sister and smirked. So much for the classy lady she always was. It seemed the DuCouteau temper had indeed passed on to her afer all...

"Why are we all here, Cass?" The redhead finally asked, peering around and returning a few glares at her enemies or rivals.

It worked like a charm.

Cassiopeia's face lit up in excitement, a wide grin adorned her face and her eyes were glinting. She always got like this whenever she could impart information she had meticulously gathered to her. "The Institute had a break-in last night." She began dramatically, to which the eldest raised a curious brow. "Yes, I know. It seemed they went to the innermost chamber of experimental magicks and from then on, they are speculating."

Katarina frowned. "That doesn't make sense."

"Not at all," Her sister agreed. "According to our local holy justicar," She said the title grinning mockingly. "The room was void of content, so there was nothing to rob."

"That doesn't explain why we're here."

"It does. Seems the summoners were toying around with a few diseases and one of them got out. As a precaution, we're being given an antidote. Just in case."

_Typical._ The redhead mused. _They toy with what they don't know. Just like home._

"Next!" The voice repeated.

After twenty seconds of no one moving, someone emerged from the infirmary. Someone the redhead knew.

"You!" She barely managed to hide the snarl from her sister. Here was the summoner who had dared blackmail her!

The man bowed. "I'm Summoner Evoin, Sinister Blade, and I've been calling your name for the last minute! Get in there!" He commanded with a frustrated frown.

She was so close to plunging her daggers in his belly and twisting while inside before savagely removing them by the side. It was a gruesome death, and it promised unimaginable pain. Not the first she caused.

Remembering she was in public and there were eyes on her, she calmed her bloodlust and walked past the infuriating man.

"Ow!" He bellowed clutching his arm, a gash now sprouting blood. Evoin turned to confront his assailant but she was long gone.

"You're not very smart, are you?" The Gorgon stated amusedly.

* * *

Within the infirmary, Katarina found herself in a white room with curiously black curtains. The place was spacious, as everything in the Instiute, and was separated in cubicles at the sides of a long passageway. Each cubicle was separated by the onyx fabric.

Stepping cautiously, she found the first cubicle held a banner with the words: "Emergency injections" pinned next to the entrance.

Shrugging, she walked inside only to freeze for a second before a slow, predatory grin stretched on her face.

"Hang on a moment. I'll be right there." The nurse called with her back at the newcomer, busy with some tray.

Silently gliding behind her, the Noxian blademaster whispered next to her ear. "Hello, pretty."

Akali almost flung the whole tray when she jumped in surprise.

Before she could even recover, Katarina had crossed her arms around her belly and had pulled her towards herself, smiling knowingly. Feeling the Ionian's warm back and long pony-tail against her.

"K-Kat." She let out haltingly, still recovering from her almost heart attack.

"Shortened names already?" Akali could even _hear_ the grin when she said that. "I didn't know I'd have such a beautiful nurse, or I would've opened my whole afternoon..." She added the last part in that husky tone that still made the Ionian shudder in anticipation.

"I can't here!" She whispered back, her ears straining to hear anything out of the ordinary. To know if anyone had heard them.

There was no one near.

Suddenly, Katarina nibbled at her ear lobe. "At least you're honest..." She half-growled, half-teased.

Akali could hardly deny that the redhead knew exactly what buttons to push to get her going. "No! It's too risky!" She turned around to face her... what was she to her?

Katarina misread the confused frown with a frustrated one. Well, she could deal with frustration.

"Don't tell me you haven't missed this..." Quick as a flash, she leaned in and captured Akali's lips with her own.

The brunette's confusion vanished in an instant. She even dared give into the moment and return it, but only for a few seconds, then she pushed the redhead back softly.

"Not here." She affirmed again, more forcefully but unable to wipe the smile off her face. Was she getting used to getting jumped by the Noxian that she barely fought her? It seemed so strange that only after a few weeks, she was looking forward to her next attempt. Even when she had taken this duty, she was silently hoping there would be something to look forward to.

"Fine." The redhead let out and let her arms fall.

Was it dejection in her voice? Akali managed to hide a smile at that. So she was looking forward to it as well. Scratch that. She was _always _looking forward to it. She did look cute frowning like that, though.

But enough playing around. She had a job to do.

"Sit there."

Katarina obeyed silently, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"This is comfy." She grinned suggestively.

Akali sighed, rolling her eyes as she shook the vial. One could admire her persistance at least, she admitted.

It was that same persistance that caused all this. The Ionian was still trying to decide whether their nightly trysts were a good thing. Pleasant, oh god, how so! But _good_?

"Be gentle." Katarina teased with glinting eyes and a short grin when she approached with the loaded syringe.

Feeling devious and oddly needy of a comeback, she shot back. "Like you were last night?"

That look of surprise would forever be burned into Akali's memories as her first victory over Katarina with innuendo alone. Her gaping mouth specially.

She couldn't help it, a victorious grin appeared on her lips.

Seeing as her patient had effectively shut up, she proceeded with her duty. "Roll it up." She ordered, motioning at her sleeve.

The Noxian obeyed, eyeing her as she cleaned up the spot and injected the medicine and then cleaned again.

"There. Done." She concluded and walked away to dispose of the items used.

Just as she had finished with them, Katarina returned behind her, her chin on her shoulder and arms circling her. What was with this woman and getting behind people?

"This outfit gives me ideas..."

"Oh?" Why did she have the urge to bite her lip _now?_

"How about we play doctor?" She offered in that purring whisper. "We even have a check-up bed here."

It was a tempting idea. Oh, very much so. One thing the redhead didn't do in bed was disappoint. Even her own lack of experience was not relevant to that assessment, having been overwhelmed in every single one of their intimate sessions.

And that rubbing of her stomach was not helping!

"Katarina!" She bellowed suddenly. The redhead just kept going and smiled. "Stop it!"

"What? No shortened name now?" She teased, the smirk widening.

"I'm at work now! I can't now!" Akali hissed and pried the blademaster's arms from around her.

It seemed to work, but only for a second when she felt a pair of hands on her arms.

"Don't think this is over, my dear nurse. I expect you tonight at my place." A shiver ran down her spine at the sheer sultriness in her whisper, a promise of another long night hanging in the air.

Gulping nervously, she dared turned around and show her blushing face at her "assailant". "B-but-"

"And don't you dare not bring this outfit." She interrupted, leaning so close her breath tickled Akali's lips. "Or else."

"O-or else?" The moment the words were uttered she knew it was a bad idea.

The grin turned animalistic. "People will start wondering where you are after a week."

It didn't take a genius to understand what she was getting at, her blush extending past the roots of her hair and her neckline.

For a second, she was tempted to go without the outfit or not at all, but people would actually wonder, and it wasn't a good idea.

"T-tonight then." She sealed her fate, wondering just what was in store for her and what mess she got herself into.

"Sister, you there?" A male voice came from afar.

Before she could reply, Katarina landed a quick kiss, parting an instant later. Winking at her, she teleported next to the bed.

Not a second later, Kennen, dressed as the doctor he uncommonly was, entered the booth.

He frowned instantly, noticing the Noxian standing next to the bed, grinning at him like the cat that got the canary. It made him wary. She never grinned unless there was something going on.

She'd never tell what it was, so he decided to ignore it and turned towards Akali. Inmediately his frown deepened when he saw her.

It was impossible not to notice her puffed cheeks, glazed look and shocked face. Thus, it wasn't a surprise he jumped to conclusions.

"What did you do to her, Sinister Blade?!" He whirled on the other occupant of the room.

The amused assassin feigned innocence. "Hello there, alcohol PhD." She greeted casually.

Kennen forcibly resisted the urge to blush embarrassedly at her obvious jab. "A-a answer me!"

"Me?" She replied placing a hand on her chest. "I did nothing." The same hand was waved dismissively.

Her history both within the league and outside made Kennen want to force it out of her, but there was no proof...

"Brother..." Akali said softly. Looking at her, a pleasant smile covered her face. "She did nothing. I'm just tired."

Katarina mentally raised her brows. She did wonder how she would get out of that one, but never in a million years did she expect her to lie to her companions through her teeth. She wasn't Noxian.

The Yordle ninja sighed. "If you say so, sister."

Akali's smile widened at that. "What was it you wanted, brother?"

Seeing the mood wasn't aggressive, Kennen calmed down. "Shen was wondering what you'd like for lunch. He would've come, but Galio was being difficult."

A snort escaped Katarina. So much for Guardian of Demacia if he couldn't stand a needle.

"Did you have your shot already, Sinister Blade?" Kennen darkly.

"Yes."

"Then get out. I'd like to end this today." He pointed towards the exit of the infirmary.

"I was leaving anyway." She said walking towards the flaps of the curtains. "Oh, and thanks."

The lightning user furrowed his brow. "What for?"

"Even sober you speak too much." She replied and left cackling madly.

"T-that bitch!" He growled through clenched teeth and a beet red face.

Akali chuckled unnoticed behind his back.

* * *

"What failed, sssissster?" Cassiopeia said as soon as the door to her sibling's room closed. Her tone left no doubt that she meant business. Every scrap of mirth was gone. The plan was being endangered by something, and that was unacceptable.

Katarina acted very unlike her persona and threw herself on the bed. Just how could she explain that retard Evoin knew everything? Sighing, she looked to the side, at the giant ceiling-to-floor poster of the Noxian coat of arms.

Pride swelled within her, knowing she was doing the right thing for her nation; but also a twinge of fright, thinking about what her leaders would do if she failed miserably.

"Someone knows, Cass." She finally said.

The Serpent eyed her sister carefully. This was not a menial hinder. Her mind whirled through the many scenarios possible, and what actions to take.

Would it be smart to get Swain into the fold? His tactician mind would surely aid them and make it extremely easy to execute the plan. But at what cost? The man was too power-hungry, and many times politics guided his hand. It was no secret amongst the Noxian Leaguers that Swain wanted more hold of the High Command, but no one except the Tactician himself knew the why. No, asking Swain for possible ideas was not needed. She was the only aid Katarina needed for this endeavour.

Like they always had been. Just the two of them against the world.

"How?" Who was irrelevant. They would inevitably die before they spouted their secret.

"Security Surveillance."

"Didn't you take care of that? We revised it-"

"I did, Cass!" Her sister growled, leaning on her elbows and looking straight at her. "This idiot added extra devices I didn't know of." She added and flopped back on her bed.

Cassiopeia's gaze lightened somewhat. Gliding gracefully towards the bed, she placed a taloned hand, adorned with natural beauties and some uncommon beautifying attachments, on her sister's shoulder, to which her sibling looked at her instantly. "We must plan, sssissster." She said softly and a light smirk.

Katarina smirked back. "We do." She stood up sluggishly, her brain trying for ideas as she moved to leave her blades on top of the table next to the Noxian poster. Mutely, she unloaded her weaponry and stepped back to the bed, where Cassiopeia was curiously coiled at the end of it. Not a strange sight for the eldest, the redhead simply sat and leant against the headboard.

"What do they know?" The Serpent began.

"What happened. From what he told me, he doesn't suspect our plan, but he knows what I did."

"How do you know this?"

"He confronted me." She said flatly.

Cassiopeia's brows furrowed. Direct approach was not smart. There was no anonymity shield to protect you from retaliation. "What? I assume he blackmailed you."

Katarina nodded. "Yeah. But what he wants is not what we'd expect."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, he asked for the Kinkou's safety."

"What?!" She asked chuckling amusedly. Never before had she heard such a stupid proclamation. Blackmailing possibly the most renowned Noxian assassin just to keep someone alive? Completely unheard of. Someone just didn't-

"Then do the usual." Cassiopeia stated simply.

"I can't. He has a safeguard tied to his life. He didn't elaborate." Katarina replied hotly. It was clear this was a sore topic.

"That complicates things."

"Indeed."

Silence stretched for a few minutes between the sisters, both thinking about possible plans of action, taking into account every possible variable to either remove the hitch or from ditching the plan altogether. Risk analysis was important when confronted with this kind of obstacles. One misstep and everything could fall down in pieces.

"There's nothing to do for now until we know for sure what kind of safeguard the idiot has and how we can remove or circumvent it. For all we know, we could try to control his mind and already have it covered." Cassiopeia forcedly admitted. Their lack of information about this new event was staggering. Grasping in the dark was never a good idea.

"I agree." Katarina huffed frustrated. There had to be something to do about this. It wasn't possible that some idiot had gotten the upper-hand just because he got lucky. Something wasn't very right.

"When are you meeting the Kinkou again?" Cassiopeia asked suddenly, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Tonight."

"Good. Discarding this new happening, how's the plan going?"

"Good." She parroted with a confident nod. She's finally accepted what I awakened, though she sometimes fights it. Futile." Her grin was quickly mirrored on her serpentine's sister face.

"Good, good..." Cassiopeia purred contentedly. Playing the spider on the web, manipulating the little flies to do her bidding was the epitome of her persona. Abusing the information she so meticulously gathered and then pulling the strings. It was even more gratifying doing so from behind the scenes. Her teacher should be proud of her by now. "I should get going." She said suddenly. "I've got to get an early start on this man if we want to get rid of him."

"Alright." Katarina nodded and watched her sister slither to the door.

She almost felt sorry for that coward Evoin.

Almost.

* * *

"Thank you for your hard work." His last patient was walking out of the cubicle, the bearded Chronokeeper glided outside after giving him a slight bow in thanks.

The Eye of Twilight let himself sigh after the place was deserted. A rare moment of rest and peace, hard earned after a days' work. And what a day it had been. Dealing with a third of the whole league face-to-face and inject medicine into their bodies. It wasn't a rare sight the scepticism in their eyes, having been betrayed before or knowing the Kinkou's ideals and work method. Even some had rebelled; the most notorious case had been Galio.

Who would've thought that big guy was so scared of a needle?

He shrugged dismissively. Everyone had their weak points, after all. However strange they were.

Now that he had finished this duty forced upon the appointed medicals of the League, he could sit down and enjoy the cup of tea he had finished preparing a second after Zilean had left. A quick sip and a surge of heat and calm spread through him, a contented sigh escaping his lips. The small mercies of life.

In these five minutes, he could forget everything plaguing his mind. Forgetting they would have to deal with a Piltovian throat cutter that threatened to disrupt Piltover's enforcement system, trying to negotiate with a few rogue Barbarians that resented Frejoldians and other continent-relevant issues.

But it was the newest development within their numbers that really ensnared Shen's mind.

Namely, Akali's overnight transformation from the typical cheerful and witty woman she had always been with them to a reserved and shadowy ninja she only reserved to public eyes. It had all began a typical night she had left to train in the common training room, nothing to be surprised about. However, the following morning, she had already started to act strange, failing to give her customary greeting and then rarely speaking.

Kennen had wordlessly taken the job of trying to break her out of her funk, but it would be to no avail. Akali's bright mood had taken a deep plunge and only the stoic and closed Fist of Shadow was amongst them.

It went without saying that they were worried something unspeakable had happened to their female member.

To the point he was even considering tailing her and finding out himself. But he would not stoop so low. She had earned the right to do whatever she wished. _She'll be back to her normal self soon enough_, he concluded mentally and a confident nod. After all, her mother was a very strict woman, very caring to those she opened to, as he intimately knew, and he had seen what the young Akali had been forced to do to reach her current level and position.

So much hard work deserved a reward.

"Brother!" Kennen's typical squeaky voice filled his ears, only for a second later to see him walk into the cubicle. The yordle took a quick look around, and not noticing anyone else, grabbed a cup of the steaming tea and sat on the bed.

Shen watched him go around amusedly until he finally ceased moving. "Yes, brother?" A small speck of merriment in his tone. He had always liked Kennen's happy-go-lucky attitude outside of duty. Nothing could deter the lightning-user's mood when he really got going.

He kind of envied such a personality.

Since he was young, he had been forced down an extremely serious and mind-consuming path. Training very long hours, poring over old scrolls to widen his wit and the worst of all, preparations for cold-minded decisions under extreme pressure. How exactly watching your father be tortured for hours, see him squirm and yell his lungs out while being undaunted be a good training?

But he would not doubt his training. It had brought him to where he was. Leader of the Kinkou triumvirate, a good woman in his arms, and an exemplar to the students and seasoned warriors within the Order. He may have some differences in the application and its ruthlessness, but he could not deny it was effective.

"It finally ended." Kennen said calmly, giving his tea a quick sip.

"Yes. Did you have any problems?"

"Minor. The worst of all was dealing with the Sinister Blade." The shorter ninja pursed his lips to a side for a second.

Shen frowned. "Wasn't she Akali's duty?"

"Yeah. Had to deal with her when I ran out of cotton and ask for lunch." Kennen shrugged. "You?"

"Ah." Shen replied simply. Common occurrence. "Galio."

Kennen chuckled. He had been there and had helped his Order-brother. "Oh, yeah. That was epic."

"Do you know where Akali is?" Shen asked with a slight frown. It was the norm for them to meet for a couple of cups of tea after a long day.

"Said she was going to meet some of the guys." He replied casually with another sip.

"I see." Nothing out of ordinary, then. They usually mingled with the Ionian champions in their spare time. Akali, for example, had a good relationship with Udyr and Irelia. No doubt they had bonded over the completely consuming discipline they needed in their training. Just the triumvirate did.

"Any news?" Kennen's serious tone gave away the topic immediately. Namely, Akali's behaviour.

"None. No idea what changed her so far." Shen replied in a defeated tone. "I don't think we should worry. She'll come back soon enough."

"I don't like it, Shen. It was too sudden." The yordle's face scrunched. "For years we know each other and nothing of this sort happened."

"What do you want me to do? Talk to her mother? You know how she is with her daughter."

A shudder went down Kennen's body. Oh, she had seen her protective streak once and it had been enough. He had never felt more pity for the idiot that tried to hit on the brunette, being forced to survive a duel with her mother with only a tanto. It quickly became an unspoken rule that Akali was not to be touched by anyone not deemed worthy by the leader.

No one was.

As attractive as the brunette was, no one dared incur the wrath of the seasoned assassin. They deemed their lives more important than throwing them away for a woman whose mother's measuring bar was stratospheric and would never accept anyone. It was obvious this had been a secondary effect from her epiphany that incensed her drive to become the Kinkou matron, but no one dared speak of it. Few things made them fear the usually calm and understanding matron, and doubting her loyalty and drive were two. Messing around with Akali being a quick third.

"Poor bastard." Kennen added, meaning the poor idiot forced to duel the matron. Shen nodded sagely at this. As much as he loved the woman, she had a certain vindictive streak when her few absolute orders were disobeyed.

"Shen? Kennen?" A female voiced they instantly recognized as the Enlightened One's.

"Here, milady." Shen replied dutifully, standing up and parting the curtain.

The dark-skined sage walked in elegant fashion, smiling warmly at both ninjas. Her adornments and fan tingling with their moving parts at each of her steps. Her classy and figuring-hugging gray dress combined with all the accesories cut an imppresive sight that always surprised the ignorant.

"Good evening, milady." Kennen said with a bow. He meant to stand but Karma halted him with a raised hand.

"No need for formalities, Kennen." She said simply.

"It would be disrespectful." He instantly shot back as he always did, to which Karma's smile widened.

"If I may ask, what are you doing here, milady?" Shen said and offered the last cup of tea.

"Oh, thank you." She accepted and gave it a taste. "It is quite good."

"Thank you."

Another gulp of tea. "There have been some issues back in Ionia." She began. "Nothing too serious, though." She quickly added, noticing worry etch in their eyes. "But important enough that it needs the presence of most of Ionia's champions. Most specifically, one for each of the shrines. It is time for the annual meeting." She explained.

The annual meeting was a gathering with the simple purpose of planning mutually the ideas to progress their nation as a whole and address possible relevant issues. A plethora of people were present each year and most could ask for favour of speaking, but the vast majority was content applying the populace's vote. A recent measure to let the people have a say in their decisions. Most of the Ionians gave positive feedback about this decision, and after two meetings, it showed the benefits.

"I'd be honoured." Shen bowed his head. As head of the local group of Kinkou, he was often called to them. He had another perspective thanks to his unmoving and cold mind and the constant dealing with Champions from all across Valoran gave him several insights that could solve problems or improve existing solutions.

"As expected." Karma stated proudly. "We leave at once." She said and turned to leave.

"Milady." The yordle halted her and she turned to him inquiringly. He had a deep frown on his face and a disbelieving glint in his eyes. "Are Irelia and Udyr also going?"

"Why, of course! They as well as Yi and Lee have already left after their mandatory medicine." Karma's reply had a curious effect as his face contorted into a horrified expression.

"Shen!" He exclaimed suddenly. "You know what this means?!"

It didn't take long for it to dawn on him, frustration and betrayal filled his heart. Palming his covered face, he spoke."Akali... Why did you lie to us...?"

* * *

**Final Note:** Oh, yes. Chapter ends here. Sorry guys, no light smut this time. In exchange, plot development! Ain't that better? Ah, who am I kidding. This story is good because of the smut...

Regarding plot, lots and lots of information in this chapter. There are many, many little details that fill in the blanks for later chapters, and even a few classic rock songs in here! I don't expect you to catch them all or at all until it's time for them to make sense. Also, it kinds of creates a commitment to this story so I don't leave you hanging.

Now, short analysis. Cass/Kat room scene. That one struggled with me a lot and it almost went in another direction but this made much more sense. As much as it fought, it had to go there. The powers that be commanded so. The final scene also struggled a bit until inspiration struck me and everything rounded up pretty nicely. It was supposed to end much later, but it was better for the development like this.

Next installment, smut is back (Did you SERIOUSLY think I'd leave nurse Akali hanging after I made it obvious they'd get some sexy time? Not that evil.) and more plot development! Ain't that precious?

And as always, drop a review about what you think! Come on, give me the heat about what you love/hate and what I can improve! I thrive on these!

Later,

Soulcry.


	4. Chapter 4 - Bedroom plays and ploys

**Disclaimer:** Riot Games owns all of this, you know?

**Author's Note: **Let's start with the standard apology. Life (as in work and some other issues) caught up to me and depleted any energy I devoted to writing this story. The delay was much bigger than I expected and thus this chapter was delayed so. Still, it came out!

Now, as usual, a huge thank you to all of you who reviewed with some criticism and what they liked and didn't.

Without further ado, I give you the next chapter!

* * *

**_Chapter 4 - Bedroom plays and ploys_**

The room was barely alight, only a few tendrils of illumination brought forth by distant candles made the pair of shadows visible.

Just the faint outline of the occupants and the furniture they were using was distinguishable.

A hand moved towards the table. The clinking of china sounded in the silent room before a soft sip. Moments later, the cup was lowered on the plate to another clinking sound.

"It's good." A voice said.

"Thank you, master." The apprentice dutifully replied.

"Tell me," the Master started, halting for a second for another gulp of beverage and produce a faint sense of drama. "what news do you have?"

"Not many." The apprentice foreshadowed. "Demacia seeks an alliance with the Barbarians, Yordle city is widening its fronters and Noxus is planning an invasion on Ionia, but you already know all this."

The Master smiled. "You learn fast." She praised tonelessly. More an affirmation than a reward. "Yes, all these developments are known to me. I'm more interested in the latest development in the League."

"What development?" The apprentice asked interestedly.

"You know full well what I speak of. Sinister Blade's ensnaring of the Fist of Shadow."

The apprentice visibly flinched back in surprise. "How can you possibly..."

The Master chuckled amusedly. "That's why I'm the Master and you're the student." Was the remark. An awed silence stretched for a . "So? Speak."

"Y-yes!" The apprentice hid their surprise as well as they could. "So far, Sinister Blade has managed to tie the Fist of Shadows' carnal cravings to her. From what I gathered, the Ionian assassin now acts completely different when in private."

"Excellent. Aid Sinister Blade in this endeavour as much as you can. It will be intersting to see what can be reaped from this." The master instantly replied and placed the now empty cup on the table.

The apprentice spoke while refilling it. "But... There's a complication. A summoner has been meddling around too much. He knows too much."

"A summoner?" The Master parroted and brought the cup to their lips. "Interesting. Tell me more."

"His name is Evoin. He's a mid-class summoner with approximately three-hundred matches and around half of those were victories. A decent but normal historial. He has a penchant for magical devices and a curiosity to go hand-in-hand with it. Lives alone in the Wastelands. Very few friends, but that's expected. Has a HUGE crush on the Fist of Shadow, reason why he confronted Sinister Blade directly and in no uncertain terms made it clear that he was only interested in the Ionian's wellbeing."

"Confronted Sinister Blade?" The Master asked skeptically. "I assume publicly."

"Initially. Then they gathered privately. He's still alive."

The Master's brows shot up instantly. "I'm surprised Sinister Blade didn't repaint the walls with his innards. Not that it would be a new thing..." The Master chuckled.

"There was some sort of blackmail." The apprentice clarified.

The Master nodded back. "Expected. Do not trouble yourself with this summoner. Let Sinister Blade deal with him. Though try to minimize his offences."

"Yes, master."

"Good. Now go. There is much to do."

After a brief acknowledging nod, the apprentice slowly left the room.

"Now, miss DuCouteau, do not disappoint me..." The Master said to the silence, slowly turning the cup of liquid in their hand.

Soon, things would get interesting.

Soon.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Thwack!

Silence.

Thwack!

Silence.

Thwack!

Silence.

Summoning the blade, Katarina Du Couteau, eldest of the Du Couteau sisters, heir to her family's considerable wealth, current famed assassin and renowned Champion of the League of Legends lackadaisically threw it with expert ease at the target on the ceiling over her bed.

Thwack!

Lying on that bed, the beautiful Noxian gave the lodged knife a look before raising her hand and with a thought reached out with her mind and activated the magical runes inscribed on them. The engraved symbol on the flat of the blade barely had the time to get a brief and very faint glow before the knife was in the redhead's hand a blink later.

Taking a quick peek at the clock on top of the door leading to the bathroom and assessing it was getting slightly late, she, for the patiently umpteenth time that afternoon launched the blade perfectly to the middle of the target.

Said target should have been filled with holes, falling in tatters at the brutal treatment she was subjugating it, but when she called the blade back, the slit it had produced closed before her very eyes.

Completely unsurprising, since it had been a gift from the Noxian summoners after her introduction to the League.

Suck-ups, she had called them (and still did), but there was no denying they did their job well enough.

She had been wary at first of the mind-bonded blades, but they had proved extremely useful for continuously performing her most devastating and, dare she say it, beatiful attack she had developed. Spinning nonstop in an almost trance-like, her mind barely had enough time to differentiate friend from foe, calculate the optimal trajectory of the blade she was about to launch and keep track of others seeking to halt her while performing her dance of death to remember what blade she had used and how many were left.

Many times before receiving her blades she had started only to stop very soon because of a lack of knives to throw. It had been embarrassing and left her way too open to retaliation. Now, she spun and summoned back the used blades, never running out of ammo, which made her a very dangerous opponent. That, and all her abilities didn't have a speck of magic in them, they were all physically trained, which meant she could outlast most mana-dependant mages.

There were other champions that had entire non-magical repertoires of abilities, but somehow couldn't keep at them nonstop like she could before getting tired.

An example was the woman she was waiting for. Plenty of times she had faced Akali and beat her only because of her exhaustion.

She didn't know if it was because of her ninja training (all of the Kinkou seemed to share that trait) or lack of commitment to training that developed this.

It wasn't very relevant, anyway. What was a known thing amongst all the champions was that a fresh Akali was a dangerous Akali.

Chuckling at that unspoken rule, a brief memory of a sweaty but smiling Akali surged in her mind.

_If only they knew..._ She thought smirking. The brunette was all but dangerous at those times.

Knock knock.

Recalling the blade, she threw it at another much smaller, but of the same made, target next to the door of her room while she got up.

As soon as the blade sunk in the exact center, light flooded the room. This had been a request of hers. Change all light switches for targets, so as to always need to practice accuracy regardless of the circumstances. While not even close to true training, it forced her to keep her skills sharp at all times.

She couldn't help it. A smile stretched on her lips as she shuffled her feet in a pair of simple onyx sandals. The thought of seeing the Ionian again somehow cheered her up.

Knock knock.

"Yeah, yeah! Coming!" She called walking to the door and passing a hand through her slightly messy hair, doing her best to smooth it. Who said she couldn't act like the woman she was? She did have slight tomboy tendencies, but those came with the constant bloodthirst.

She held back the mirth remembering the faces of some summoners and champions when she had been forced to wear a fancy dress before leaving for a Noxian ball.

Chuckling at herself, she turned the handle and opened the door.

All merriment left her face in an instant, only to be replaced with a deep amd wary frown.

A fully cloaked person stood there, exhuding a mysterious aura and a very ominous darkness covered their face. The person was slightly shorter than her, but the build was wide and thick.

"What is it?" She growled antisocially. Making new acquaintances with unknown people wasn't something she liked. After they had proven worthy or there was some other interest besides social interaction, only then would she consider engaging them in chatter.

The figure remained silent.

"If you don't speak, you'll be _very_ sorry you interrupted-"

A feminine snort silenced her.

A doubt spurned in her mind. Only her sister would dare play a joke on her and go conpletely unscathed. Berated, but laughing. Yet this person obviously lacked the serpentine tail of her younger sibling. _Would she? Did she change so much already? _"Akali?" She inquired tentatively, squinting her eyes in suspicion.

In a flash, the person's build shrinked and they launched at her with a lightning-fast kick.

Reacting on instinct, Katarina leapt to the side, the assailant zooming past her and into the room.

The redhead immediately summoned a blade to her fingers and raised her hand to throw it in an instant, eyeing as the semi-crouched figure was inquisitively, almost carelessly, peering at anything in the room. Or it seemed like that, since the cowl waa moving sideways back and forth.

The senior DuCouteau watched the person's actions warily, gauging them and trying to define their reaction speed.

Just as she was about to throw a testing blade, the person spoke in a familiar voice.

"You always treat the ones you sleep with like this?" The cowl was lowered and the face of the only female Kinkou League champion was smirking at her.

Katarina launched her blade to a random target, quickly disposing of it and closed the door shaking her head at the brunette's antics.

"Nice room, Kat." The ninja pointed out. "A bit too... Noxian for my tastes, though." She added motioning the huge Noxian banner covering from floor to ceiling of a wall.

"How about you invite me to yours and I critise it?" The redhead shot back with a knowing grin. There was no way she would do that, there were too many people that would notice an intruder in the Ionian area.

"Maybe I will." Akali shot back defiantly.

"And maybe," The redhead added, walking slowly towards her visitor, swaying her hips extra hard, something she was pleased to notice diverted the Ionian's eyes in their direction. "Maybe," She repeated and finally reached Akali and cupped her cheek. "We'll test how _springy_ your bed is. Hm?"

Fully expecting a witty reply as she had previously done sometimes in their previous encounters and earlier that day in the infirmary, she was surprised when Akali closed her eyes, smiled contentdly and leant into her hand. "Hm. I'd like that." She said barely above a whisper, her eyes losing focus as she lost herself in the moment.

The endearing sight proved to be too much to the bloodthirst-hardened heart of the Noxian, a pleasant warmth was very slowly spreading through her, completely unshackled. Something else was awakening, but she was baffled as to what it was. She only understood enough to widen her lips into a smile without even a twinge of malice or arrogance.

It was such a foreign thing that she only barely remembered the last time she felt it, many, many years ago, when she was but a toddler. A carefree time with only her parents and normal-looking sister. But it was so hard to remember what was the source of that feeling, if only she remember-

"Please don't." Akali said suddenly, breaking her trip down memory lane and forcing her to look at her. The Ionian's eyes were entirely focused on her and they shone brightly, the very early stages of tears. Had she done sonething wrong?

Akali further added to her bafflement when she hugged her tightly. "You had such a beautiful smile just now... What life have you had that made you lose it?" She rubbed her face slowly on her shoulder, an intimate and almost animalistic action, but it brought the redhead untold amounts of comfort for something she didn't know was aching her until now.

"Smile for me. Smile like that always for me." The brunette requested after leaning back and blinding her with a very bright smile reaching her eyes.

So much caring blasted through that face and those glinting oculus, it was hard to keep in character. Katarina mentally slapped herself, forcing her to remember the plan and stick to it.

This was no moment to live teenage fantasies.

This was a matter of Noxian survival.

This was... such a sublime woman...

"I'd-" The redhead began.

Knock! Knock!

Immediately the atmosphere shattered in a million pieces. All sense of intimacy was immediately erased to be replaced with a definitive need for subterfuge. Neither of the two were prepared (emotionally or socially) to come out in the clear about their relationship.

So, it was with a common and practiced calm that Akali leaned back slightly and uttered a single word: "Where?"

The redhead simply nodded at the closet near them. While it was extremely cliche, its effectiveness could not be denied. Only a simple cardboard box was a possible upgrade.

Akali smiled half-heartedly and quickly and silently hid herself under the careful watch of the Noxian assassin. Surprisingly, it wasn't cooped up in the least. Moving a pair of boots, she sat down in a lotus position, closed her eyes and focused on her other senses.

Immediately a wave of Katarina's aroma assaulted her, which was unsurprising considering where she was. It was different than usual, there was a strong addition of leather and a few twinges of dirt, different but similar to the crisp and sharp taste she had grown accustomed to and the smell of their commonplace trysts.

Outside the closet, the redhead sighed deeply in preparation and walked to the door. "You better have a damn goo-" Her speech halted as soon as she fully opened the door and noticed who it was standing there, a sour and severe expression on his face.

"Yes, Du Couteau, I actually have a "damn good reason" to be here." The Noxian master strategist and High Command general, Jericho Swain growled at her. He was clearly _not_ in a good mood. Standing there in his usual attire, the general eyed his subordinate with half-lidded eyes of suspicion, his mutant parrot, Beatrice, adding her own penetrating stare.

"Well?" He raised a brow.

"Well?" Katarina shot back dumbly, a strong sense of anger slowly bubbling within. She never did like the man, since she was young she had always been wary and kept her distance. Of course she knew who he was, every Noxian did by default, but that didn't mean she had to like dealing with him constantly.

"This is not for public ears, Du Couteau." He stated with a finishing tone. The eldest of the Grim Sisters understood easily, moved aside and let him in without a voiced reply, but very reluctantly. She ground her teeth and mentally stabbed the man in four different ways before he finished walking past the doorway. Always the same acidic and contrite phrases that got on her nerves. She could deal with them from her father, but no one else.

As soon as he was in, Swain nodded appreciatively at the Noxian banner and the half-done task of blade sharpening the redhead did now for a hobby, considering her gifted ever-sharp knives. It meant not much had changed.

"So?" She began after a few seconds of silence and the general looking around her room. Her heartbeat raised slightly when he fixed his gaze on the closet the center of her planning was. A mental sigh escaped her when he looked straight at her. But that damned bird was still staring at it!

"Beatrice." He said simply and the parrot shifted on his shoulder to look at the blademaster. "Now, Du Couteau, I hear there have been some interesting developments around you."

Katarina repressed the urge to flinch. How could he possibly know? The only other who knew was her sister and she wouldn't tell a soul! Did he spy on them? Had that blasted buzzard or some other minion done the dirty work again? It did look like something he'd do. But why confront her about it? Evoin had done so but for his own reasons. It was difficult to understand this man's agenda and how her involvement with Akali fit into it to make him blackmail her as well.

No, it was better to play the denial card and see if he slipped up his source. Farfetched, considering he was a master strategist both within and outside the battlefield, but possible.

"I don't follow." For a split second she almost crossed her arms. A grave mistake since it gave the idea of insincerity.

Swain smiled condecendingly. "Katarina, please. Do not play these games with me. We both know what I'm talking about."

Busted. Damn he was good.

"What about it?" She resigned herself with a sigh.

"Simple. Drop it. We cannot afford such a thing in Noxus."

The Sinister Blade frowned deeply and almost snarled. Who was he to dictate... "What I do with my free time concerns only me, general. If that's all-"

"Careful, Du Couteau." He interrupted pointing an index finger at her. "Insubordination is the basis of disloyalty."

She blew up. "You dare?!" She bellowed loudly. "You dare call me disloyal after all I did for Noxus?!" Her fury and anger was made visible when she bared her teeth at her superior, her nails digging into her palms and almost drawing blood. This bastard dared to doubt her after all the hours, sweat and blood she had poured to become one of Noxus' finest?

Swain stared at the raging woman calmly. "Do not forget who you're talking to, Du Couteau." He cut through her red-veiled path of destruction like a hot knife through butter. While it served to focus her again, it compressed all her wrath back within, ready to lash out at a moment's notice. "One word from me and you're out. Stellar record and League champion and all."

Barely suppressing the explosion, shaking in anger, her eyes shone with promised eternal pain. "Never. Question. My. Loyalty. Bastard!" She managed to grind out through tightly closed teeth. Her hand waa reflexively trying to get a blade and end this fucker's life, if it didn't prove him right.

The Noxian General smirked in victory. "Don't oppose me, and I won't doubt you." He let the statement hang in the air a few seconds and marched to the door. Reaching the doorknob, he looked at her over his shoulder. "Love is rarely strength enough for a Noxian. You're not the only one to bite the dust." With that cryptic final phrase, he walked out and closed the door behind him, leaving a half-infuriated, half-confused assassin within.

What exactly did he mean by that? Of course, the first thing was an obvious thought process of many, including herself, among the city-state's denizens. Weak Noxians quickly discovered that their loved ones became shackles chained directly to the throne of the powerful, but slowly the strata of influence of such a happening widened to include most of the nation.

It was the embrace of the ideal that loved ones pulled you down that produced the dark atmosphere surrounding Noxus. Who could be cheery when you had a son or daughter under constant vigilance because you knew too much?

Even the Du Couteaus were not exempt fully, since the head of the family and father of the Grim Sisters insisted on them receiving their education and any training they desired within the confines of their mansion until they were ready to confront the world, just to protect both themselves and him from possible opportunists.

So, soon enough, the motto "Forever strong" brought a corollary: "Love weakens", to which many Noxians lived by. Oh, they reproduced alright, but there wasn't enough feeling in it to be truthful and meant. This led to an overpopulace of orphans and bastard children crowding the city within a few decades.

It was the second part of what he said that confused her to no end. She wasn't the only one to bite the dust? What did that mean? Did he mean others would fall if she did? An image of her sister instantly sprung in her mind, together with a fierce determination to protect her. The faces of servants and a training companion in particular also appeared in her thoughts, adding to her resolve. Lastly, an image of the stout and firm, but smiling proudly face of her father put the final nail on her coffin. There was no way she was going to discard this when she was so close. She would deal with the fallout in due time. Now, it was time to raise the bet and test the common waters.

Walking to the closet, smiling savagely, her mind added unbidden, _Time to go public._

-+-+-+-+-+-+++-/-+-+-+-

"-bite the dust." Akali's brow furrowed as soon as she heard this. Was there any honour among Noxians to blackmail each other like this? How was it possible one of two greatest military powerhouses lived by culling the weak?

The door closed and there was silence. Had Katarina left her there?

Half a minute later, the closet's door opened and the definitively feminine figure of her Noxian lover stood there with her arms wide, a hand in each door and a big, classical grin on her face.

"Where were we?" She asked waggling her brows suggestively.

A giggle escaped the Ionian unbidden. Katarina had such strange quirks, swinging between moods faster than Garen's spinning. Quickly resuming her libido-driven attitude after being threatened by one of the top people of her nation seemed to be simple enough for her.

"Come, my dear." The redhead offered a hand. "Let us dive into an ocean of bliss and ignorance."

Laughing at that, she mentally took note of her phrasing and how it was a dichotomy. While it could be offered as a temptation, Akali understood the ignorance was also to forget her own troubles and escape her overwhelming responsibilities for a few hours. But...

Taking her hand, the ninja had a sudden epiphany. Ever since their first night, every time Katarina had been stressed out, she had seeked her for a session of mind-blowing sex. How could she ignore someone wanting her aid and in need? Regardless that it was forced and was the most pleasurable help she had ever given, there was no denying that helping a person in need was one of Ionia's key unspoken rules.

It was then she made a decision that contradicted with everything she was asked to do.

She decided to give herself willingly and unquestionably to the gorgeous redhead eyeing her predatorily any time she so much as asked.

Being pulled to her feet and outside the closet, Akali quickly embraced the assassinand closed her eyes, inhaling her scent and smiling like a teenager. After all, how could she say no to this woman now?

Feeling a pair of hands slip into her cloak, her voice whispered huskily into her ear. "So you wore it. Do you have any idea how sexy this outfit is?" Then she nibbled her ear, a pleasant shiver running down Akali's back.

"No... Tell me." She whispered back, her hands roaming all around the redhead's back.

After a small interlude of deploying small kisses behind her ear and down to the joint of her neck and shoulder, which made her bite down her lower lip before she whimpered, Katarina replied, spacing out to continue her ministrations. "So hard. Contreating. With those. Legs of yours. In those stockings..."

"Mh..." The ninja returned the action of nibbling her earlobe, noticing a momentaneous hesitation but quickly resuming more earnestly. "What else...?"

"You learn fast..." The redhead gasped heatedly. A hand slipped under the back of her top and between her shoulder blades, massaging that section in slow, constant circles.

"I had the best teacher." Akali replied instantly, pulling back enough to wink at her and place a swift kiss on her lips before continuing on her neck.

The eldest Du Couteau couldn't help but let out a short laugh at their current situation. It made the ninja pause with her feather kisses but not her ever roaming fingers.

"What? Did I do something wrong?"She asked in a semi-worried tone.

Katarina smiled _that _loving smile and pulled out her hands to cup her cheeks. A blush was slowly developing on Akali's face. That smile always got her weak on the knees. "Nothing, my dear." She placed the most sensual and emotional kiss so far on her lips, pouring every sense of emotion she could muster at the almost clueless assassin. Her thumbs slowly caressed her cheeks, adding a soft emotion to her actions. It was unsurprising when suddenly the brunette literally melted on her arms, unaccustomed to such a quantity of warmth and emotion, a blissful smile on her face and her eyes unfocused, her cheeks extra maroon.

Pulling her a few paces back, she let herself fall on her bed, carrying the cloaked ninja with her. It was a testament to her lack of concentration that she barely gasped when she landed on Katarina.

She did snuggle as close as she could, though, trying to keep her contented state of heat and happiness.

The redhead's arms slipped back into the cloak and slowly, without any amount of combat, started renoving the cloak.

It was after removing both arms that the brunette recuperated use of her brain cells and instantly enveloped her arms around the blade master's neck, planting small kisses all over her face. "That... Was... Awesome..." She let out in a soft growl, during her quick pauses. "More!" She growled again, more harshly this time. "More!"

When Katarina managed to look at Akali's eyes, there was an primal and urgent glint in them, something that she had only presented while chasing someone on the Fields of Justice. When out of nowhere she slipped out of her cloak, threw it carelessly far behind her and landing in a heap, flung herself at her lips and her hands started pulling at the sides of her top and pants, Katarina understood she had created a monster.

Unbuttoning the nurse's outfit with just the same glee the ninja had trying to remove her garments, she smirked in their now constant lip-lock. It took a monster to face another monster.

When Akali's vest lay down in a heap next to her bra and Katarina's top, the heat in the room spiked nearly thrice.

Katarina's hands seemed to have been glued to the assassin's derriere, flexing her fingers powerfully and forcing the receiver to moan in short bursts of extasy, going with the flow and grinding her crotch against one of the redhead's leg and her torso on her chest.

The Ionian quickly fought back, slipping a hand down the front of the assassin's pants, scratching at the tuft of hair present there but never moving any lower. Both symbolizing the position of pseudo-power each had on the other.

Each movement of their bodies in sync and making them quickly climb the imaginary ladder to nirvana, their tongues going all out for supremacy over the other and their lips constantly meeting in long, almost melding numbness. Their constant moans of mindblowing bliss, showing how clouded their rationale was at the moment, considering they were responding to their base needs and inner animalistic instinct.

A sudden thought cut through the haziness of the heat and Katarina smirked knowingly. Her hand halted her actions for a second and, pulling at Akali's small panties, ripped them off in a single, lightning-fast action. The ninja squealed in surprise and new stimuli of the sudden contact of her now free womanhood against the rough surface of the pants Katarina was miraculously still wearing.

All hell broke loose when the ninja decided to up the ante even more and finally lowered her hand to meet the center of the redhead's pleasure area.

There was no sleeping or silence for the two lovers that night.

The Noxian delegate of champions and the surrounding sections slept that night only because of the silencing seals on each of the Champion's rooms.

No one noticed the set of eyes staring at the duo attending to each other from far outside the window of the blademaster's unlit room.

* * *

**Final Note: **I promised, and delivered. I admit it is not up to par (at least according to me) and the "action" scene is relatively short, but as I said in previous chapters, smut is slowly, very slowly going down to give way for more plot development. It's all good with some blood-rushing-to-nether-regions interactions between the two assassins, but only that does not make a story.

It needs some plot, dammit! Especially since I have some good ideas that I want to write about and see what happens with that...

Sorry if there were some mistakes, but I didn't proof read it as much as I wanted to and there might be some repetition with words (I try not to do so, but lack of sleep sometimes has that effect). I'll try to re-read it again sometime soon.

As always, give me a shout what you think about the chapter. It really helps me improve and keep going with your feedback. Life is always an obstacle (and ranked matches) to hinder my writing, but it will eventually come back with a new chapter!

Later,

Soulcry.


	5. Chapter 5 - Shampoo and Soap

******Disclaimer:** Riot Games owns all of this, you know?

**Author's Note**: What is this? An update not even a month after the last? What is this?! I must be so good with all of you...

Not much to say for this chapter, except that for some reason a couple of reviews motivated me a lot to continue with this and actually work on it.

Forth onward!

* * *

_**Chapter 5 - Shampoo and Soap**_

The vehicle rode under the rising sun, its silver coating gleamed like a beacon behind the horses pushing it. The driver was seated on top of it, commanding the reins with expert eyes on the road and the surroundings. While there were technologically better options for travel by land, the passenger preferred some old-school horse-powered carriage to any of those steam-powered contraptions. There was no power of life at work there, just emotionless machinery.

From within its confines, the Eye of Twilight recognized a few landmarks. His journey would very soon be over and he would be back in the walls of the Institute. Contrary to many of his underlings' opinion, he didn't have qualls about returning to the summoners' building. It helped keep his senses sharp within and outside the battlefield, and also to keep an Eye on the happenings around the continent and inform the Kinkou to act accordingly. From Prince Jarvan IV's continuous adventures, Jericho Swain's never-ending plots, Pantheon's constant need to prove himself the better warrior against any opponent, Veigar's mad plans for world domination, and more recently, Akali's penchant for disappearing for hours and lying about it, it all kept his mind and body busy trying to balance everything. He counted himself lucky that the leader of the Kinkou was personally aiding him or else he'd have snapped a long time before.

Noticing the gates of the Institute, he surmised only few minutes before arrival and prepared himself, slowly placing his Eye of Twilight persona over Shen the Ninja Surgeon that he always used in private. Basic ninja tactics said that deception was key in a ninja's success and what better deception to his enemies than feign something he wasn't? All three of the Tree Carers currently at the Institute applied this credo all the time. There were too many enemies around to show any sign of weakness.

The carriage slowed to a halt and he heard the gruff voice of the driver: "Destination!"

Shen closed his eyes and focused to put in place the finishing touches on his personality mask. As the process ended, the man sat straighter and an imposing but peaceful aura enveloped around him.

When the door opened, the Eye of Twilight descended.

Taking in the sight of the stairs before the entrance, he quickly took notice of his yordle brother awaiting his return in a lotus position with his eyes closed at the top and center of the stairs, deep in meditation.

Shen smiled behind his mask and took his bag from within the carriage. He saluted the driver, who responded in kind and took off seconds later.

Climbing the steps silently, he soon was standing next to Kennen, facing in the same direction and not disturbing him. He knew how important meditation was. He would come back at his own pace.

Minutes passed but the lightning-master did not rouse. Several champions passed by them, some spared a curious glance or a quick hello, but mostly ignored them, being used to their actions.

"Hello, brother." Kennen spoke suddenly, his eyes still closed. Speaking meant his trance would soon be over. There would be some delay to his replies until he was fully back.

"Hello, brother." The taller ninja saluted back. The man was pleased there were still constants in his world, it meant one less thing to take care of.

"... How did the meeting go? ...You weren't far long." Kennen said a few seconds later.

It was true he hadn't been away that much. Only a week and a half. Sometimes those meetings could take up to three weeks, and considering the journey to and from was about a week at full speed, this meeting was extremely short and to the point.

"Later. When you're finished."

"... ... ... Ok."

It only took him few more minutes to complete his daily routine and sluggishly opened his eyes and stood up.

"Hello, brother." He said, more vividly this time, as he stretched and popped his bones into place.

"Hello again." Shen replied amusedly, a smile invisible to anyone played on his lips.

"Shall we?" The short ninja said, motioning to the giant wooden doors, their front covered in engravings of battles, wisdom and various multi-purpose runes.

"Of course."

The pair began walking towards the Ionian wing of the building, where most of the islander champions resided.

"How did it go? It was short this year." Kennen inquiried.

"Quickly. Luckily there were no major problems to be solved, just lots of everyday issues but they needed our attention. Though there was that incident with a Noxian intruder in the southern coast that held us back a day and a half."

Kennen's brow furrowed. Noxians in Ionia? What would they want there? "How so?"

"There wasn't much information to be-" He halted his speech when he noticed a certain champion walking opposite their direction, from within the main hall and towards the entrance.

"Hello, Eye of Twilight." Jericho Swain saluted with a smirk. There was a gleam in his eyes that was rarely present. Something was going on and Shen was in the dark about it.

He did not like it one bit.

"Hello, Master Tactician." He reluctantly greeted back. He'd much rather force him to speak his secrets, but all champions were protected by the summoners against actions from other champions. There were several times Shen was about to interrogate another champion more forcefully than needed, only for the victim to be bailed out by some summoner on duty. No matter how much he tried to reason that it was necessary, they would not budge.

"It is a nice day, is it not? Good for lying in the sun with a loved one or having a picnic, don't you think?" Swain offered in a polite and conversational tone, but the sheer eagerness in his eyes was much more than any verbal taunt the Noxian was able to produce. There was something in what he said that gave an unease to Shen. But what?

"Indeed. Too bad the day is coming to a close."

"Too true. Too true." Swain agreed. Making a show of looking at a watch, he quickly quipped. "I must go. Good day, Eye."

"Good day." The senior ninja replied just as reluctantly as before and watched the man with the cane limp away. More like stalk away. The unease Swain made him feel was not a new experience. Each and every encounter with the man rekindled it with a vengeance.

"Brother?" Kennen's question brought his out of his internal musings.

"Oh, yes. Let's go."

Silence stretched amongst the ninja veterans as they crossed the crowded Grand Hall, taking a few detours to reach the corridor to the Ionian wing. A few fellow warriors halted their course for a quick chat, but soon enough they reached the corridor and, more specifically, the Kinkou area of that wing.

The only distinction over the other areas was the single corridor that opened into three separate rooms, an emblem for the Kinkou order proudly set over the arch at the entrance of the corridor for everyone to see. There was no need for secrecy since, after all, champions were protected.

Each door opened to the private quarters of each of the Tree Carers. The middle one was Shen's room, where the two ninja entered after he removed the security measures he had in place. All three of the ninjas had them put personally, as an extra measure of privacy. If they knew it was locked by skilled assassins, people would think twice before trying to break into the place. Deadly traps were a real deterrent against thieves.

The room itself was similar to the rooms of all champions. A rather big resting area to do as they pleased and a standard personal bathroom for privacy measures. In the beginning, there were two huge communal bathrooms, but it was a disaster. Fights broke out almost daily, and after the sixth time the bath was completely obliterated, the summoners decided to cut expenses altogether and assign a bathroom for each champion. Everyone was pleased in the end.

"Noxians in Ionia? Are you certain?" Kennen inquiried worriedly, having sat on the only couch his brother had. Next to him a tall but slim bookcase stood with a plethora of topics in its contents. It wasn't a rare sight to see the tall ninja reading there for hours.

"Yes." Shen replied while he was placing the things in his bag back into their place or to the washing bin. "Unfortunately, Noxians are most paranoid and placed many failsafes in case the intruder was captured. We barely managed to see him alive before he convulsed and died."

"Typical." The yordle noted. "Do you think it has something to do with Swain's weird behaviour?"

"You noted it too. I think so," He said and stopped to look straight at the lightning master "but I also think there's something else going on that we're in the dark about."

"Why?" Kennen asked confusedly.

"Swain's a chessmaster in real life." Shen started, giving a sigh and stopping his putting everything in order to start up some tea. "Everything dealing with him must be carefully analyzed, dissected and viewed from three different perspectives, and even then he'll surprise you with something completely unexpected. Today's conversation was something special." He paused to pour the now done tea in two cups and served one to his guest.

"How? And thanks."

"No problem. He revealed information about some of his plans but heavily buried under menial talk."

Kennen's brow furrowed. "I don't get it. He didn't say anything extraordinary."

"That's the point. I have to decipher what he meant, but I won't."

"Why?"

"He never gives you enough information to deduce for yourself what he's planning. Just a vague direction to start looking. And in the end, it's a distraction to keep you busy while his true plans come to fruition."

"Diversionary Tactics 101." Kennen commented, which made Shen smile behind his mask.

"Exactly. We'll deal with him after he played his cards."

"And if we can't?"

Shen's shoulders slumped. That was his greatest fear. "We have to."

* * *

Her tail swished back and forth as she moved, the sound of grinding scales on rock floor echoing around her in the empty halls. Glancing around as she slithered by, old paintings and frescos greeted her back. This was not the usual passageways of the Institute, this was a unique corridor with a particular decoration, commissioned and supervised by herself. With her sister's approval, of course.

Cassiopeia Du Couteau, younger of the Grim Sisters, second heir to the family fortune, former seductress, previously most desired bachelorette and currently cursed by a serpentine blade to her current appeareance, moved towards her sister's room. A confident grin and a glint in her light green eyes adorning her face, the same tint shared by both siblings.

Her usual lady-like movements were foregone in this habitat, since no one dared to come to the Grim Sisters' domain without an express need. People were too intimidated by the pair, unless they were used to them.

Reaching the door, she paused and, as she always did, admired the engravings on her sister's door. It wasn't battles, it wasn't blood, hell, it wasn't even family. It wasn't whatever anyone would expect of the bloodthirsty and violent woman that was her sister. One would instantly allign her with blades, blood and death, but strangely, this was not the case.

Lotus. Lots of Lotus adorned her door.

Cassiopeia wondered again why the elder had ordered that so vehemently, but Katarina wouldn't budge about it and she wisely decided to let her be. She could be quite grouchy when pushed with stuff like this.

Now, the sisters had a certain code for entering the other's room. It was simple and effective, but only applicable to their custom-made doors.

The Gorgon tapped twice on one side of the door and then twice on the other side. The wooden surface strangely produced different sounds depending on the side they knocked. Having entered the code, Cassiopeia wasted no time, and after a quick glance down the corridor in case there were onlookers, quickly slipped into the room almost silently.

There, the sight that greeted her further widened her grin.

Half-sitting on the bed, prompted up by pillows and covered a few inches above her waist by the sheets, the Blade Master was eyeing her sister with a raised brow.

Besides the redhead, a mop of onyx hair was lying comfortably on Katarina's belly, a soft snore coming out of it. The body of the mop was barely covered above the bum by the same sheets and the arms were embracing the the abdomen of the Noxian.

"Yes, Cass?" Katarina whispered just enough to be heard, while her hand rubbed her companion's back and the thumb of the other hand did the same with the brunette's fingers.

"Time's up." The Serpent said just as softly. "Just last night."

Katarina shrugged carelessly. There was nothing they could do to stop them now. Their pieces were already set and soon things would be set in motion. "It's irrelevant. I plan on going public." This did surprise the younger Du Couteau. "Could you be a dear and make me a cup of coffee?" She asked fake-sweetly, to which Cassiopeia's face turned blank, but Katarina's nod at Akali's slumbering form forced her hand.

"Fine..." She grumbled and slithered to prepar some in the nearby kitchenette. "Public, sssissster? Are you sure?" She inquiried worriedly while her hands moved on auto-pilot preparing the beverage.

"Yes, Cass."

"You do know what they will say..." Cassiopeia said with note of worry. This was different than the simple bet they had. This could very well get out of hand.

"I don't care!" Katarina exclaimed more forcefully than needed. Akali shook slightly but after a few seconds continued to snore.

"She sleeps like a rock." The Gorgon pointed out amusedly. A strange thing for an assassin. Katarina was an extremely light sleeper, waking up at the smallest sound out of place. To this day, she still remembered when she had awoken her with a surprise and a blade almost left her bald. Ever since then, she roused her sister slowly and carefully.

"I would too if you hadn't woken me up." Her sister pointed out dryly, covering up a yawn with a hand.

"Late night?" Cassiopeia said, using the characteristic Du Couteau confident grin.

"Very. Went to sleep just a few hours ago."

"Here." She handed her the steaming cup of coffee.

Smiling at the concoction, just after a sip, already some of the tiredness left her face. A pleased sigh escaped her lips.

"I can't understand how can you like it so much..." Her voice carried her disbelief. No matter how many times her sister explained how important it was in the front of war, she could never garner any attraction to the murky drink.

The redhead shrugged with a smile and took another gulp.

"Are you sure?" Her grave tone and stony face made it obvious she meant business.

"Yes, Cass. It is needed."

Cassiopeia immediately understood this was a proof of faith the redhead was sending to the ninja, and also to further the relationship beyond the sheets of some bedroom. But... Just how much more before she ensnared the Ionian completely to her bidding? Just how long would this quest take? And worst of all, what would her sister sacrifice to see it through? Would she remain the same? Knowing what she did, she couldn't help but worry for her sister's wellbeing. "I... Just be careful, sssissster..."

A certain note of concern, very rarely used by her sibling caused Katarina's brow to furrow. So rare were these occassions that she was always on edge about it, taking extra precautions. So far, her advice had not set her on the wrong path, and being her sister who gave it, she trusted it without a smudge of doubt. "Why?"

"I... I heard some things, ok?" The Serpent replied shiftly and uncomfortably. It was obvious this was a sensitive topic for her. "Just always keep an eye out." Cassiopeia silently refilled the assassin's cup and made to leave the room.

"Cass?"

She halted at the door and turned to look back. "Yes?"

"Thanks."

The smile that was shot back illuminated the Gorgon's face before she disappeared after the door.

Katarina sighed and closed her eyes, leanung back into the pillows. Her mind going a mile a minute, trying to understand what worried the little snake. Her sister had always been a fountain of information, having preferred social events to physical training, thus, she must have known something secret that could jeopardize either the plan or her life. Neither she wanted to be stopped anytime soon. What were her options? Throw everything away, or keep going.

A chuckle escaped her lips, her chest moving at the action and lightly shaking the slumbering ninja on top of her.

She had never been a person to hide in the shadows and control people from there. If she wanted people gone, she made it permanent. Though sometimes there were those that had a few uses.

For now, there was no stopping the plan, so she'd have to be extra wary. She didn't even know who was threatening her. Well, there was Evoin and Swain, but she was sure the former would do nothing while Akali was alright and the latter simply didn't really care that much what she did.

She sighed again and looked at her lover. Only that long, unconstrained and now wild mane of hair stared back. "What am I going to do with you...?"

"Breakfast..." A mumble was heard from the mop of black. Slowly, very much so, Akali moved her head and looked up at the redhead, her chin on Katarina's belly. Her chocolate eyes were half-lidded and showed extreme tiredness. Blinking even more slowly once again, she turned her head, glued her ear to the belly and snuggled closer and then mumbled again. "Or a shower."

"A shower? I don't have a shower."

Five seconds later, a slow and almost groaned response came. "What? ..." Three more seconds pause. "And what... Do you have?"

"A tub." Katarina grinned. There were things that just couldn't be done just as well in a shower. Removing one's grime completely, for example, or relaxing to the point of nirvana was another. Or other... entertaining things...

A paused delay, then the Ionian ninja looked up again at her redheaded beauty. "Really?" Katarina nodded once and emphatically. A smile broke out on Akali's face. "A tub sounds goooooood..."

"Then move and let me set it up." The Noxian said raising her hands from their rubbing places.

"No!" Akali clutched her tighter. "So comfy now." Her shuffling even closer to the bare body of Katarina made the assassin raise a brow. Was she always so clingy in the mornings or today in particular?

"How about this? I go and start up and the water and I come back to be your human pillow in a flash?"

"Fine." Akali let go reluctantly and moved away, taking the covers with her. "But you better hurry."

Chuckling, the Noxian blademaster got up and walked to the bathroom to start the bath.

When she finished, she went to the doorway and looked at the bed. There, curled like a cat in the middle of it with all the covers and hair like a black and white human typhoon, was Akali snoring again.

To Katarina, this was an endearing sight. To see the nornally intimading and dangerous woman being so carefree and childish was an unexpected, but welcomed sight. It continued to try to jumpstart those memories long past forgotten of days with warmth in her chest, and youthful attitudes. It didn't work much, but it made Katarina wonder if after her plan was executed, if she could ask the High Command for an unscathed Akali as her only prize for showing a deep loyalty and devotion to her city-state. She didn't fool herself, though. Once she showed her true colours, the brunette would forever hate her. And just when she was starting to like having her around...

A quick glance behind and she surmised the water was at optimal level. She stopped the flow and went to rouse the ninja. "Hey, bath's ready." She shook Akali but she gave no response for almost a minute.

"Hm?"

"Bath's ready."

"Um... Carry me..."

Katarina's face turned to stone. That was too much. "No."

The assassin uncurled and looked up at the blank-faced Noxian. "Please?"

"No."

"Fine... Party-pooper..." It took thirty seconds for the brunette to get up and leave the sheets on the bed. As she walked by, Katarina suddenly grabbed her by the waist.

"I didn't say I wouldn't kiss you all the way there." She said huskily at Akali's surprised gasp. But before she could act on those words, the assassin had beaten her to the punch and enveloped her lips with her own.

Easily five minutes were lost trying to cross ten meters.

"You go in first." Akali ordered once they arrived. Katarina shrugged and complied. There was enough room for both to get a side each.

The hot water, kept at that exact temperature via summoners' runes inscribed on the tub, first swallowed the redhead's leg and then the body as she leaned back and sighed. Warmth seeping instantly through her tired skin and muscles, a relaxing wave of heat coursed all through her.

Akali managed to surprise Katarina with a renewed boldness when she entered the tub and leant back against her, the black hair tingling all over the Noxian's skin.

"Hey!"

"Ahhh..." Akali sighed contentedly, rubbing her now wet head against Katarina's shoulder.

Was she having some sort of cat phase or something? Shrugging, the blademaster hugged her "assailant" by the waist. Savouring the moment, they took a minute to spend in quiet reminiscense and enjoy the shared heat and each other's company, as long as it lasted. Minutes went by in silence, only broken by their breathing and the drip of water from the taps.

She figured this was a good time as any to drop the bomb. "I'm tired of being secretive. How about we go public?"

The silence that followed was not an easygoing one. Depending on her decision, there would be some very interesting happenings around the League. Her recent talks with Cassiopeia and Swain led her to believe that there were more machinations behind the scene than this coy manipulation she was doing. And from the queer way Cassiopeia insisted on her being wary, some of them were about this very thing. So, the best defense to keep her hidden agenda protected, and herself by proxy, was to be in the eye of the public. If she was kept under constant gossip and she were to disappear overnight, things would not remain quiet.

Akali's head lowered slightly, her wet hair sticking to her skin and covering her features. "Are you sure?" Her tone was fragile and very hesitant. It was no surprise, since they were from enemy nations and were pushed to not deal with each other socially by their peers. What would people say when out of nowhere they were together?

"Yes." Katarina said instantly. "I'm not afraid of what people might say."

"That's not what worries me." The brunette said in a low volume.

A brow raised. "What then?"

"I don't think my brothers will take it well." Akali said sonething completely expected, considering the enmity between Noxus and Ionia. Looking over her shoulder, she fixed a pointed glare at her living cushion. "Nor did I know we were dating."

Katarina's brows shot up. That was new. Akali never even hinted about wanting to go through the courting phase of an intimate relationship. She'd have perhaps acquised and went through those trying times, but they were too time-consuming for her. The curiosity nagged at her, though. Maybe she overlooked some clues? Some word, look or anything obscurer? Or maybe she had simply ignored that phase and jumped straight to vicious, sweaty and loud sex. Yeah, the latter was much more plausible, or truer to the real happenings. She was the one that sexually assaulted Akali to start all this, after all.

It was true their current relationship was in a dubious limbo, where they didn't know what the other meant. This must be the ninja's attempt at breaking through that and extend an olive branch of sorts. Katarina didn't know whether to be flattered or pleased with herself that her plan was going so well. Was she willing to go so far and fall in the danger of perhaps falling for the nude gorgeous woman on top of her? Of course their dating would be fake, but...

Hell, even she would like to have a courting phase if she ever decided to have a real relationship. There was a certain charm about getting to know the other, their quirks and joys, what made them tick and what made them roll on the floor laughing.

Sighing, Katarina looked straight into those brown eyes, a decisive glint in her own. She would have to dance to her tune, for now. But since the brunette looked so upset at this, it needed to be said with meaning, even if it was absolutely fake. "Akali, my princess," She began and smiled warmly, a faint blush spreading on the Ionian's face at the nickname. "I know we started oddly compared to other couples and perhaps you wanted to go out on dates and I failed to notice it, but now I can fix that. Would you do me the honour of being my one and only girlfriend?"

The tense seconds rolled by as a flushed ninja stared mutely at the assassin. The brown eyes scanned every feature, looking for something only she knew about.

When she was sufficed with it, she turned around in the embrace they still shared and faced Katarina directly. The maroon on her visage deepened in embarrasment as what she was going to say was infinitely sappy. "If I'm your princess..." She began and her lurched forward, burying her face on Katarina's chest before mumbling something.

"What was that?"

Another mumble.

"I can't hear you if you don't-"

"Will you be my Kitty?!" Akali interrupted suddenly with that proclamation, her face shooting up and the blush seemed to spread all over her torso. She visibly deflated after saying it and burrowed back on Katarina's bosom, only her onyx hair visible.

The redhead officially understood that Akali would forever surprise her. It was a constant. Now wasn't any different. "K... Kitty?" She asked incredulously. "Why Kitty?"

"You know..." She whispered from her safe and warm place.

A hearty and true laugh rebounded on the walls of the bathroom. "Actually, I don't! I'm stumped!" She said amusedly. All this business was incredibly entertaining. She definitely wanted to hear the reasoning behind this now.

"It's not funny!" The ninja shot up indignated.

"Then explain." That was enough to crumble her resolve and make her go back to the meek mood she was currently in and hide her face on her chest, deep between her breasts.

"Your name..." Her breath on that spot tickled her, but she was not about to say it so simply. Oh, no. Akali would have to pry that knowledge out of her if she wanted it. "Shortened is Kat. But I wanted something endearing, so..." As she said all this, the volume went lower and lower until it was barely understandable. She didn't have to look at her to know that Akali was beyond embarrassed. Even she would be.

So, it was with a mental shrug and quite a bit of carelessness that she spoke. "I love it."

Silence.

The brown eyes peered at her green own from below. "Y-you do?" She said faintly.

A firm nod was the only response needed.

Continuing with her rate of unexpected, the ninja planted her lips on the assassin's, sealing the deal about advancing their relationship and the Du Couteaus' plan.

But the latter was not relevant now. Now was the time for the princess and the cat to have some time for themselves after an emotional bath.

People would have their opinion and would surely try to interfere, but they would face them in due time.

There was no rush.

Right?

* * *

**Final note**: And another chapter is gone! No smut again this time (but I hope the fluff and copious lack of clothes made up for it). The last parts of the chapter were fighting with tooth and nail to come out, but after plenty of struggle, they did. I'm not quite content with how it came out, but the idea's there and if I try to better it, I'm not sure I'll get something as good.

Plot-wise, things are moving quite well. I expect quite a change in pace in the happenings around the League in the next three chapters. Oh, I won't tell what they are, but they are somewhat obvious by now and I also gave you a lot of hints for some and some very hidden ones for other plot points.

Now, just a heads-up, I'll try to reply to your reviews as much as I can, but some of you send them as anonymous and I can't reply to those. Please do try to login if you want feedback, it's only ten seconds.

I don't have much more to say, except to hope you enjoyed this chapter and expect next one when it comes out!

Later,

Soulcry.


	6. Chapter 6 - Are you ready?

******Disclaimer:** Riot Games owns all of this, you know?

**Author's Note**: Ugh... 40 days since last update? Has it really been this long? There is no amount of apologies to you, guys. As is the clichéd excuse, Real Life held me hostage. One of you (I don't know who, since they didn't log in), recently reviewed me with a "it's been 38 days!" and I couldn't believe it had been that long. I hurried the finishing touches of this chapter and finally managed to upload it today.

I will say no more and leave you guys to the chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

_**Chapter 6 - Are you ready?**_

"And you are certain of this?"

"Saw it with my own eyes in the middle of the night. It was dark but it was undoubtedly them."

"And why did you bring this up now and not before?"

"You had more important things to do at the moment. This could wait a few weeks."

"We do not know that. We are ignorant to whatever plans they concocted. You know very well by now the extent they are willing to go to obtain their goals."

"Yes, but this is new. Even the players are new to this kind of game. Inexperience gives way to mistakes and time."

"True, but someone's helping from the shadows, and that someone is a master at scheming."

"If we do not know who it is, we cannot deal with them. We can, though, deal with what we know."

"What worries me more, is what if its all a cover for something much deeper? What if the rabbit hole goes endlessly?"

"Then the Eye must look everywhere."

"You know full well that I cannot cover every nook and cranny. I am but a human and I make mistakes."

"We'll deal with things as they come. For now, we need to be together."

"Indeed. We'll confront her when she returns."

A firm nod. "There better be a good explanation. For the sake of our heiress."

* * *

_Dear Daughter,_

_It has been brought to my attention that you approached romantically the Kinkou heiress. It is not my business who you decide to court, yet I must applaud you in landing such a high standing character. There are few that I would consider worthy of you, and she is one of them._

_However, while I do not mind very much, others will not be so comprehensive. Just the channel I heard this news from makes me worry for your wellbeing. There are machinations going on that I cannot keep you safe from. Even Talon has heard rumors._

_We must discuss this further. I expect you soon._

_General Du Couteau_

Katarina put down the letter with a sour taste in her mouth and deep contemplation of the words written.

How did they find out? It made no sense! Only three people knew about it and two wouldn't dare blab. But the final... General Swain could be willing to sink her if it meant more power, but he was smart enough to realize she had ulterior motives and was not simply obeying her hormonal needs. No, someone else had to know, and she did not like it one bit. Cass' warning resounded in her mind, a shout out to devious personas after her hide.

She scoffed unworried.

She was no stranger to people plotting behind her back. Specially back home.

She already was treading carefully because of Cass' words, but hearing the same from her father gave it a whole new level of danger. It meant the higher echelons of the High Command were in the know of this.

Undoubtedly the more traditional of the Generals would see this as high treason and would ask for her head. It was not a vague assumption. It had happened before to other stains in the history of Noxus. But the more progressists, curiously led by Swain, would rather maintain the doubt and ask for a thorough explanation.

The redhead sighed, getting up to prepare her pick-me-up elixir. As she worked, her brain kept going. Would they understand the reasoning behind her hastily concocted plan? How much of it was decided on the fly and could not be allowed to strategize upon?

"You had general Swain at your disposal!" She said outloud with pursed lips imitating the tone of those old idiots, a hand holding the now ready coffee and the other making a moking speaking motion.

But she dared not go to Swain for council and give more power to the crippled man. He already had enough to threaten the throne of Darkwill to also have the Kinkou heiress at his beck and call.

No, this was her proof that she was a true Noxian and that she earned her place in the High Command, not given the spot as a way to pay some debt to her father. It would also boost the reputation of her family in Noxus. After all, power was everything in the city-nation, and social standing meant power too.

Taking a sip, she recalled the last paragraph of the letter.

The warning that he could not block all attempts meant bad news, though, but it only affirmed her leaning to go public. If her father, who was in the top level of the High Command under direct orders of Emperor Darkwill, could not stop them, meant either the Emperor himself was displeased with her choice, or the traditionalists would gather their power players and make a move to discredit her family name and remove father and daughter from their seats. It was improbable they would succeed with their past exploits and stellar military records, but if the ever young-looking Emperor had his claws in it, there would not be much future for the Du Couteau in the dark city-nation.

She leaned against the wall, arms crossed and eyes lingering unfocused on the ceiling. Where the stakes ever so high? How did things turn out to be a minefield so quickly? To great risk comes high reward, but how much risk was piling up already? The Kinkou didn't know yet! That would be a deathtrap in itself!

How could she keep everyone appeased while she executed her plan? The Kinkou would be easy as long as she kept their heiress safe and sound, but there would be retaliation.

She couldn't even explain that well to her own Noxians in fear of they robbing her of her plans before they were unstoppable! There was so much backstabbing in the upper social strata it wasn't even funny. That was why she decided to ignore all politics and leave them to her sister, the social prodigy, and left to do what she did best, stain the battlefield red with her enemies' blood.

But once she wanted to dab in some plotting of her own, she got in over her head going straight to the hardest challenge possible.

A challenge?

Slowly a grin stretched over her lips. This grin was darker and more predatory than any before. For the first time, she would dare confront the High Command. This was a challenge, and Katarina Du Couteau rose to meet each and every challenge with a grin and a blade.

Those old bastards could go screw themselves. She would show them who was truly loyal to the Noxian ideal.

Re-reading the letter, now with a cool head, the redhead read between the lines once again.

Talon knowing also meant that not only those old coots knew about it, but much more people than that. It was safe to assume that soon enough of the important characters in Valoran would know about her coupling with Akali, no matter how fake and pretended it was.

It would be amusing what their reactions would be. Specially the ever nosy Demacians and their so-called ethics and honour when the complete antithesis to them snagged the avatar of balance and justice. The outcry for witchery would be swift indeed.

They wouldn't be that far off. She thought amusedly. Their confusion and not knowing how to respond once they came out of the closet would be most hilarious.

Soon she would be protected by the public itself and the summoners against other champions, leaving the path free for her to do as she pleased.

She couldn't wait.

* * *

Deep breath. Things would be alright.

Deep breath. There would be no problems.

Deep breath. Balance would be kept.

Deep breath. Understanding is part of keeping balance.

No matter how much she tried to reassure her quickly beating heart, the apprehension and hesitation would not leave the female Tree Carer.

They had been trained to face many scenarios and to always keep a cool mind when facing the unknown, something she was heavily depending on now.

How much outrage would her brothers show after she broke the news to them? Even she didn't know how she'd take them if she were in her place. How exactly do you respond if one of your most important people in the world was in a deep relationship with who was virtually their counterbalance?

It was this enigma that kept Akali the last five minutes in front of Shen's door, raising her hand to knock and letting it fall when her courage waned. This happened a few times.

It was the inevitable reaction of her mother after she caught wind of who her daughter had chosen that worried her the most. She knew she would understand, considering what she was asked to do, but her mother was strange around female Noxians, and no amount of coaxing would get her to explain the frown and sneer when she dealt with one.

Deep breath. Things would be alright.

I hope she understands in the end. She thought after knocking on the door, a sudden and heavy weight lodging deep in her heart, something that surprised her slightly. But there was no room for more contemplation when the door opened and Kennen, without his mask and a solemn look on his face, appeared. Giving her a firm look that made her gulp nervously and making her feel like she was a child who had robbed a cookie before dinner, he moved aside.

Walking in warily, she was met with the stern stare of the Eye of Twilight. Once again, she felt a third her age under that scrutinizing gaze. He was sitting on his reading chair with a steaming cup of tea between his hands and a now closed book resting in his lap. His mask had also been removed, choosing to let loose once in a while.

Their eyes met and an uncomfortable silence fell on the room, like a weight was placed in the very air. Akali squirmed involuntarily under that look.

The silence stretched on for almost two minutes as the female Kinkou was visibly distressed while Shen simply sipped at his tea. They all knew who the leader of their division was, and like it or not, he had the power to demonstrate it.

"So, Sister." He said slowly, his tone heavy and imposing. This was a very far cry from the usual mellow and friendly tone she always associated with Shen while in private. "How have you been this past week and a half since I've been gone?"

Gathering her wits, Akali gave a half-hearted smile. "Quite well. Any news from the council?"

"Not any relevant." Shen's eyes hardened. "But I think you have some for us?"

The pretty ninja gulped nervously. Did they already know? She opted to keep silent a few more seconds.

It proved to be wrong when Shen exploded. "Perhaps your news would explain your recent penchant for disappearing for hours and lying about it to us! Us, Sister! Your brothers!" His tone got harder and more severe the more he talked. He didn't like berating a companion and grown woman, but their team needed cohesion and unity, something that was threatened by the recent childish acts of The Fist. This was unacceptable.

Akali glanced at Kennen, his eyes had the same steeled glint in them. The only times he had that look was when he was in battle or a mission briefing. He knew when things were serious and when to joke. This time was clearly the former.

The Kinkou heiress took a steading breath. It was better to be direct and not beat around the bush. They were her brothers after all. "I have been meeting with the Sinister Blade outside of the battlefield. We're pursuing a romantic relationship." This proclamation was received with a surprising amount of calmness. The answer was clear as pure water. "And you already knew." She deadpanned.

"Indeed we knew." It was Kennen who spoke with confidence and she turned to look at him. "We were suspicious of you after you lied to our face the day Shen was leaving."

"Udyr and Irelia left as well. Of course." Akali pointed out her mistake and both gave her a knowing smile and curt nod.

"So, I took it in my own hands to follow you around." Kennen continued and Akali's brows shot up in surprise. "I admit you were hard to pin down, courtesy of our training and Sinister Blade's paranoia, no doubt, but I finally caught you a few days ago entering her room."

An embarrassed flush covered her face. "You didn't!"

The yordle shrugged stoically, giving the message that it wasn't his fault. "So I grew more suspicious and decided to get to the heart of the matter. I spied you from outside."

"You could have asked!" A beet faced Akali exclaimed. That was another level of personal space invasion!

"And have you lie at our faces again?" Shen said ominously.

The Kinkou heiress' visage soured and her head dipped. There was no good reply to that question. She knew she wouldn't have told the truth until she was ready. Or everything was set up. Too many things were dependant.

"What exactly are your intentions with this 'relationship' with Sinister Blade? You never showed any interest whatsoever before, and you have just proved that innovation is detrimental to your actions." Shen interrogated, a fist landing on the armrest of the chair. He was not displeased, he felt betrayed. Betrayed by someone who he'd have trusted his life with.

Akali raised her head and faced Shen, her brown eyes glinting with the usual determination she had when facing a tough obstacle. "My business with Sinister Blade is mine alone." She said with a hard tone. "It is I who will take the fallout from Mother for my decisions. Not either of you."

Shen's eyes shone with a dangerous light. "Whatever it is that your mother decides, this goes before it! We are the Triumvirate of the Kinkou! Your actions have seeded untrust in us! How can we work together anymore if we can't trust you to tell us these type of things!?" His face was stoic during this tirade, but not the volume of his voice. He was downright berating the female ninja.

Akali bowed her head in shame. He was right, of course. She was certain she'd do the same in his shoes if this happened. How could their bonds remain untouched after such a sublime show of stupidity? How could she be so shallow-minded to think they wouldn't understand?

A mental image of her mother shone through and she remembered why. Looking back up at the taller ninja, her eyes no longer held any defiant look. "I didn't tell you because Mother would find out and I was not ready to tell her. It was nothing against any of you."

"Irrelevant." Kennen stated. "You could have asked us to keep it private and we would certainly do so. Do you have so little faith in us?"

Akali looked visibly shaken. "I... No, of course not! I would trust you with my life!"

"Your actions speak louder than your words." Kennen's statement felt like a knife lodged deep in her back, cold and unforgiving. It was hard having to face a business-mode Kennen and Shen. They were relentless.

"I-"

But Shen interrupted. "And Sinister Blade? Really? After everything that woman has done to disrupt the balance in Valoran and tip the scales in Noxus' favour, you pick her?"

"Balance must be kept." Was Akali's firm and instantaneous response.

"How is mingling with one of our enemies keeping the balance?" Kennen said curiously, but also sarcastically.

How, indeed... How exactly did their relationship keep any sense of balance? Katarina simply did as she pleased with her and she allowed it. There was no counterweight whatsoever.

But there was an idea of balance in what they represented. Katarina obeyed dutifully and without question her bloodlust, actively seeking new ways to appease it. Reason why she was feared in Fields and the battlefields, she always came out drenched in red, either her own or her enemies'.

Akali on the other hand, preferred to keep that internal beast on a tight leash, only letting out sporadically and when needed. It did not mean she enjoyed the thrill of the battle any less, in fact she savoured every moment as if it were her last. There was no balance there, they were actually quite similar! Both absolutely adored the feeling of taking a life!

The brunette's eyes widened. So that's what Katarina meant when she said they were alike during their first night. There was not much difference between her school of arts and her repertoire of skills.

But if they were the same faces of a coin, there was no balance... Unless...

"Ying and yang." She said finally. At their raised brows, she continued. "We resemble the Ying and Yang. How much easier is to keep the balance she breaks when acting immediately after if I'm close? There is that saying about keeping your friends close, but your enemies closer."

Shen leaned back on the chair, a pensive air around him. He stared at Akali for several seconds, gauging het words. "Sound logic." He admitted to Akali's pleasure. "But is she friend or foe?"

The heiress shrugged. "Can't she be both? She won't harm me in fear of retaliation, same as I." Both Noxus and the Kinkou had several feared strike forces to take out desired characters. The Triumvirate and the Crimson Elite were the main force, but not their strongest. There were darker and more shrouded individuals.

"You are walking on thin ice, Akali." Him calling her by her name instead of sister hurt more than she was willing to admit. She was that used to being in their confidence. "If Kennen was able to find out about this, there's a good chance others could as well and this got to your mother's ears. You could have gotten sanctuary for both of you, but your lack of trust is a serious matter that cannot be avoided. Your actions created a rift in the Triumvirate and it must be fixed."

The Fist of Shadow's eyes widened. "What are you saying? Are you kicking me out?!"

Shen quickly recoiled a few inches. "No. But it will not be the same. We'll see if you ever regain our trust." He shoved his arm to the door. "This meeting's over."

Looking at her two brothers, the female ninja nodded once in finality. There was nothing more to be said, and more words would do more harm than good. "I... Understand." She shuffled to the door and silently left.

Kennen watched her go with unnoticed worried eyes. "Weren't you too harsh?" He inquiried well after Akali was gone, turning to see his expression. It was stoic, as always.

Shen closed his eyes. "No. This will be a social training for her and a way to regain our trust. If she manages to stay true to herself while in the company of Sinister Blade, then she proved her point and I'll welcome her with wide arms."

"But what if she decides to push us away?"

"She won't." The Eye of Twilight said with conviction in his voice. "The Kinkou are her life and the Triumvirate her blood and air."

Kennen sighed, motioning for the door. "Sister's a grown and smart woman. She'll do what's right."

The human smiled warmly. "Of course she will. We trust her."

Kennen mirrored the caring smile and closed the door.

As ninja, they were allowed to have secrets, something both Kinkou had in spades. How could they keep it against their sister?

They had already forgiven her sister even before she spoke.

* * *

"You were the one." There was no doubt in the tone of voice. "You let this cat out of the bag, Master. Why?"

"Tea."

"I-I'm sorry?"

"Make some tea first. Then we'll talk all you want."

There was no response, but the sound of china clinking resounded in the room. Minutes later, the Apprentice presented the tray with the beverages. Handing a cup to the Master and taking one, the Apprentice laid on the seat, waiting. The younger knew that the Master would speak at their leisure, somehing picked up over their many meetings.

"Great tea, as always."

"Thank you." The tone lacked any sort of emotion.

Minutes passed by, much to the present impatience of the Apprentice.

"Are-"

"I made it public ahead of time to force Sinister Blade to hasten her agenda." The Master interrupted. The older laid the cup on its dish, a chiming sound echoed. "Much hangs on the fruition of her plans. Things that even she dares not try to disturb. Things way above her."

The apprentice's brow furrowed. "Above...? You don't mean the High Command, do you?"

Silence.

"Oh, god... You do..."

"Indeed I do, my young apprentice. One of the main lessons you will learn is, when planning, plan big. You have the resources, why stick with the sandbox when you can have the park?" A grin stretched on the Master's face.

"Do you even know what they would do if they find out?"

"You are assuming they don't already know."

"T-they do?" Shock was evident in the Apprentice's voice.

"Some. The relevant ones."

"They sided with you, I assume."

A laugh. "Of course they did! Some of their own volition, others through... Darker means.

The student didn't even flinch at the implication. It was a common ocurrence around the Apprentice's circle. "What does this have to do with Sinister Blade?"

"Everything!" The master's arms were thrown wide. "Don't you see? She broke a circle in Noxian history! To pick an outsider as a amorous interest out of the several open options for her is very well reason for accusing her of treason, and being the Fist of Shadow of all people, I'd be surprised she wasn't already killed!"

"W-what? But don't your plans depend on her success? How can they come through if the High Command won't accept it?"

"Ah... That is a matter for another time." A prominent smirk. One did not reveal their cards at once. What if someone had an ace of spades in their sleeves?

"I assume you have a backup plan for when Sinister Blade faces the Council?"

"Nope."

"What!?"

"Please cease your outbursts. They are unbecoming of a person of your status."

"Sorry..."

"To answer your question, Du Couteau is a Noxian and also of the High Command. If she isn't able to deal with those old geezers, she's not ready to face what is in her path. If she dares tread through it."

"Am I to assume you will not aid her?" The apprentice sounded unsure.

"Indeed. Only the weak need guidance."

"Am I able to aid her, though?"

The Master grinned. "Of course you are. Let this be a teaching and a bonding experience, my student."

* * *

**Final note**: First of all, this chapter fought with tooth and nail to come out, and it shows. I struggled to complete round it while trying to make progress with the main story. Next chapter will be fun, so I'll try to get it out ASAP.

So, Kitty received a letter from her father telling her of dark schemes in Noxus while Akali gets distrust from her brothers for her choices. Both of our ladies are currently almost alone versus the world. The Master and Apprentice plotting behind their backs plans of grandeur and conquest. Just who are those two?

Give me a shout what you think about it.

Later,

Soulcry.


	7. Chapter 7 - Showtime!

******Disclaimer:** Riot Games owns all of this, you know?

**Author's Note**: Surprise! An update! And this time it wasn't a month long wait!

Some of you gave feedback without login in. I wanted to reply, but I couldn't! Do try to login and I can reply to your inquiries and doubts (if your interested in such things).

Now, I shall not divert your attention anymore. Here's the new chapter! Enjoy and Review!

* * *

**_Chapter 7 - Showtime!_**

It was just another day in the Institute of War. There was simply nothing of relative importance to be noted about that day, except perhaps that it was the day for the follow-up of the vaccine the Summoners had recently administered to the champions after the outbreak of the undisclosed disease. The Summoners were not very cooperative with disclosing details about the disease, what it entailed, its symptoms and more importantly, its effects. They were asked plenty of times by several different envoys but they remained obstinately tight-lipped. Only Kayle, The Judicator, was fore-coming to the media about some details and even then they were meaningless and simple. This created many doubts and distrust from outsiders of the Institute towards the Summoners. This was reflected inside to the point that most champions didn't really care what happened to the Summoners as long as it didn't involve them, though it wasn't any different compared to the beginning of the League.

As they had done previously, the Summoners petitioned the expert medical hand of the Kinkou to overview the process of carrying on the follow-up in case of any adverse effects to the various metabolisms they had. This necessitated an expert hand, since each Champion was unique and their race made a huge difference in the possible after-effects of the vaccine. The physiognomy of Trundle was way different than Veigar, for example, and the vaccine needed careful tuning to answer the problem and not cause any new ones.

This turned out to be a menial labour of asking simple everyday questions to them and taking some simple data they could do in any of their own personal rooms and later on procure to them.

They were not very thrilled with this.

And they had to interview all the champions in a day, so it needed to be done hastily.

Thus, it had been for several hours already that the three ninjas, with the organizational aid of the lower tier Summoners, had been carrying the relatively brief meetings in the medical wing of the Institute.

"Hello~!" A cheerful voice called, marking the advent of another champion. Soon enough, Luxanna Crownguard, the Lady of Luminosity entered the cubicle. Her ever bright clothes and hair were already a trademark of the petite Demacian, as well as her optimistic view of life. May hap a tad too optimistic, according to some. "Is it my turn?" She asked smiling and leaning back and forth on her feet.

The Fist of Shadow, now donning her medical garbs gave her a quick once over. The first thing to take note of was her lack of mage armour, something also normally associated to the blonde, and then the lack of her usual robes, having been replaced with simple everyday clothes. Her opinion of the exalted blonde was neutral. Since she dealt very little with her, she only had the grapevine to what were her dealings, and that was not the wisest thing to do, considering the warping power of gossiping. Thus, the ninja wisely decided to not keep any opinion at all and would form one once she actually had to interact.

The brunette checked her position in the queue on her dashboard where the list and order of all the champions was written. "Yes. Please do have a seat." She said motioning to the only bed in the room. Aside from that piece of furniture, there was a big cabinet filled to the brim with medical implements, a big desk topped with neat but tall stacks of papers and books, and a small bed-side table where a tray with everyday first-aid items laid. It was not a personal office, but she had everything she needed there and close by.

"Oka~y!" The Demacian mage quickly obliged. A courteous smile plastered on her lips, a constant feature of hers.

"Now," Akali started, sitting on the chair placed in front of her interviewee, a leg over the other and used as a makeshift table for her board. "I'll just ask you a few questions."

"Of course." Lux nodded her assent.

"Have you had any sort of itch in the past two weeks?"

"Mh... Not really, except an itchy nose before sneezing."

"That's perfectly normal." Akali noted something on her board. "Any sort of rash or welt anywhere?"

"Nope."

An assent and something more was written. "Good. Did you have any joint pain? Whatsoever?"

"Not at all. I do exercise often." Lux replied with a confident smile.

"It is a good thing to do." Akali replied writing again. "Final question for now before a simple check-up, any sort of weird behaviour, unusual cravings or attitudes?"

To this, the light mage got a pensive look for a few moments, a finger under her chin. "Now that I think about it... Brother did say I was eating more than normal..."

"Any particular food?"

"Not that I know of. Just more of the same."

"Hm... Okay. It could be a late growth spurt."

Lux's face lit up instantly. "Really? You think so?"

"Or pregnancy." Akali said before she held herself in check. What?! Why did I say that?

The Demacian's face was as red as her crimson suit in an instant. "B-but I-I..."

Akali immediately understood two very vital things. Why the petite wizard was fidgeting nervously and why Sinister Blade enjoyed making others blush. She had to hold back the chuckle and instead plastered a serious frown. "It's OK. It clearly can't be that." She said trying to fix her screw up with a helpful tone. It was not a strange thing for her to know who was sexually active among the female champions who decided to confide in her, considering she was the go-to medic for them. None felt very thrilled with confiding with certain aspects of womanhood with Shen or Kennen or any of the resident medical Summoners, and some needed questions about biology answered.

An awkward silence stretched between them. Lux just didn't know how to break it and Akali was patiently waiting for her to return to her normal exuberant self.

"Um... So, what's next?" Lux asked meekly, still her face red and her gaze never landing on the medic. A quick change of topic was needed.

"Something simple. I just need to measure your height, weight and blood pressure. For your chart." The Ionian turned around instantly and took an engraved stick and an equally engraved bracelet from the tray next to the bed.

"Ok." Lux smiled and stood up, already having went through this several times.

Taking the offered bracelet, the blonde placed it on her arm, where instantly holographic numbers came from it. Akali quickly took note of them and removed the bracelet after a few more readings.

"Everything ok?"

The Ionian smiled reassuringly. "All's normal."

It was when she was placing the stick on top of the Lady of Luminosity's head that she heard a rustle behind her coming from the curtains and took notice of Lux's eyes looking over her shoulder and widening in panic. She sighed mentally. What now? Couldn't she work in peace for at least a full hour? It had already been a long day and she couldn't wait for lunch break to grab a bite and chill down a while. And all these interruptions did not help her mood in the slightest. She'd have to place a banner or something asking for no disturbances.

"Hello, Princess." A husky and familiar voice whispered to her ear from behind, a pair of arms quickly circling her waist and a pleasant shiver ran down her spine. A common salutation that Akali was already used to, having had to deal with it every day for the last month and so. To the point she had to physically refrain from leaning back into the warm embrace.

"S-Sinister Blade!" Lux said in surprise and more than a little distrust. The redhead woman always put her on edge, whether it was in the Fields or outside, with her imposing aura of command and stark attitude that bit at anyone that dared to get too close for her liking. She had seen the woman literally get drenched red in blood during a particularly vicious fight and simply laugh as the crimson liquid covered her features and she continued her onslaught. Her sleep had been haunted for plenty more than a fortnight, waking up in the middle of the night with cold sweat.

Yes, it was no secret Luxanna Crownguard feared Katarina Du Couteau.

The Noxian eyed the blonde languidly. "If it isn't the Crownguard brat." She stated in that contemptuous tone she always used when speaking with a Demacian. Even with the grudging respect she had for the Might of Demacia, it did not mean she had to be civil or speak courteously. "Came here for some growth potion? Everyone knows you need it."

Lux's already red face turned even darker in embarrassment and anger. But she dared not act against her words, fearing any sort of reprisal. Du Couteau was a trained assassin after all. "I-I…" She stuttered and she mentally kicked herself at her obvious lack of self-control.

Katarina seemed to smell her fear when a Cheshire grin split her face and as a predator, pounced on her defenceless prey. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

"Kitty, play nice." Akali spoke suddenly, slightly disrupting the atmosphere and forcing a pout on the redhead's lips.

"Aw… come on… Let me have some fun…" She replied shaking the Ionian slightly with her arms. Normally this would be dangerous with her forearm protectors, but today it seemed she had foregone them. It was a pleasant change for the ninja to feel the redhead's warm arms around her stomach. An instinctual shudder to get them closer ran over her.

"She's my patient now. Play nice." She finalized and continued with her task of placing the runed stick over the blonde's flabbergasted head. It must have been strange to her to seem the like this. "What are you doing here, Kitty?" She asked as she waited for the readings that soon jumped out and began writing them down.

Placing her head on the ninja's shoulder, she cooed. "Can't I come visit my girlfriend now?"

What?! "Girlfriend?!" Lux exclaimed suddenly. A Kinkou and a Noxian together? It was unprecedented! How the hell did this happen?

Katarina's bright green eyes glued a death glare to her blue, a dangerous glint in them. "Yes, Crownguard. Girlfriend. Is that a problem?" She almost growled defensively, straightening her back and raising her head to her normal place.

Immediately Lux gave a step back in fear. "N-No!" She replied shaking her hands in front of her dismissively.

A hand gave a sharp slap on Katarina's arm. "I said play nice." Akali said slowly and imposingly, having left her board on the bed-side table.

"Hey!" Katarina let out, indignated.

Her brunette girlfriend simply ignored her outburst. "But I am pleased that you visited. Even if we saw each other half an hour ago." A small smile spread on her lips as she continued to work.

Watching the two interact so naturally and socially spoke volumes to Lux that maybe this wasn't such a strange relationship, though it was remarkable they had managed to keep in wraps considering that things never stayed secret in the Institute. Eying the pair more thoroughly, there were certain dubious details, like the glint of Sinister Blade's eyes or the faint ghost of a smirk on the Fist's, things that stood out only if you were actively watching for them, but that did nothing to break the image both women gave of an interactive and healthy relationship. But just how in the blazes could blood-thirsty and anti-social Katarina Du Couteau manage to get the professional and no-nonsense Akali as a girlfriend? This was very suspicious. There had to be something more that she was missing, something-

"You're done, Lux. You're okay." The Ionian interrupted the blonde's internal monologue with a smile. It was clear the Demacian was distressed with Katarina's presence there and she needed a quick out. Sometimes the blade-master could be very oppressive.

"Thank you." Lux said, meaning more than just fulfilling her duties as medic. With one last wary but calculating glance at the pair, the blonde hastily stepped out.

When she was well out of earshot, Katarina let out a hearty chuckle and let go of Akali before plopping down on the bed. "It is so easy to annoy that little girl."

"That was not very nice." The brunette's brows furrowed.

"And complaining publicly about the noobs among the Summoners is?" She pointed out, her own brow raised.

A blush spread over Akali's cheeks. "Well, I… That's not the point!"

"And what is?"

"You can't harass Lux like that all the time!"

"Not my fault she's a meek and spineless mage." She shot back, leaning back on the bed and closing her eyes carelessly.

The brunette's eyes narrowed dangerously but she kept silent for a few seconds, staring intently at the beauty lying down on the bed. That annoying smirk on the redhead was back full force. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

A loud laugh. "You got me!" Katarina grinned at Akali and stood back up. "Come on, let's go have lunch." She added and instantly took Akali's hand in hers and pulled her out.

"H-Hang on a second! Let me leave this!" She said halting the Noxian for a second and leaving the measuring stick and bracelet on her desk. "Now, I'm ready."

Both left the cubicle hand in hand.

This lunch would certainly be interesting.

* * *

"The report we got yesterday indicated that the Noxian forces are mobilizing, but we still are not privy as to where-"

"Brother!" A shout interrupted the report from the Might of Demacia to the prince of Demacia, Jarvan the Fourth, and the king's personal bodyguard and friend, Xin Zhao. The three men had gathered a few tables away from the main gathering of champions and summoners, their sensitive topic was not for public ears. It would be disastrous if word got out that the Noxian military was on the move. They would raise their security measures and their information flow would trickle down to nothing.

The three men halted their reunion and instantly took notice of a distressed Lux almost running to them from the main door of the mess hall, some people taking notice of her current actions and some also pointing her out. She soon made it to their recluse table, halting next to them and taking deep breaths of air.

"Luxanna, this is an important matter, this interruption better be worth it." Garen's low voice held a distinct note of authority, something he only used with her when he was either disappointed or he was preoccupied with something of greater significance. His words clearly pointed towards the latter.

Lux gulped nervously but before she could speak, Jarvan interrupted. "At least let her regain her breath."

The blonde shot a grateful look to the Prince, who returned a smile instantly, and addressed her now frowning brother. "I have important news, brother." She paused to take another deep breath. "Today is the follow up of the Summoner's Shadow Vaccine and I went to take mine." The Shadow Vaccine is the name she had come up when everyone failed to explain to her what disease it attacked and how it worked. Since everything was hidden, she dubbed it easily.

"I sincerely hope that's not-"

"It is not." Her tone held a hard edge very seldom associated with the Demacian mage. The three men eyed her more directly, a testament to the rarity of a serious Lux moment. "Let me get to it." She added instantly more calmly. The blonde took a last focusing deep breath. "In the middle of the follow up, we were interrupted very rudely by Sinister Blade and there I found out a secret I am surprised we weren't informed of." She shot a pointed look at her brother, who peeked over her shoulder for a second.

"Brother, you have to know that Sinister Blade..." But it was no use. He was completely lost to her words, as he was now intently looking at a particular table, his mouth agape in utter disbelief. The other two men instantly took notice of his state and followed his path of sight, only to lose control of their jaws as well.

The Demacian mage didn't have to turn around to know what was happening.

Sinister Blade and the Fist of Shadow were officially together.

* * *

"Are you ready?" The redhead asked giving a quick glance at the brunette holding her hand. This was it. The moment of truth. After this, there was no point of return for them, and especially for her. It was here that her plan was solidified and she would be forced to carry on towards the end, soldiering onward until the goal of a better Noxus was within her grasp, be it at Akali's side or holding the chain around her neck. It made no difference.

"Yes." Her voice reflected a resolve that simply was not truly there. Oh, she was decided that this was truly the best course of action, but that didn't mean she didn't feel any apprehension at having to face the bulk of the people she interacted daily all at once. But, in the end, it was better to just do it all in one go. Like a removing a band-aid, it was better if it was in one quick yank.

"Well, then." Katarina squeezed her hand, trying to convey some semblance of assurance and proceeded to valiantly and proudly walk into the mess hall. Akali hesitated the first step but then decided to throw caution to the wind and match the Noxian's devil-may-care attitude pace by pace. Let them come.

Their entry of the mess hall went without any fanfare; it was not interesting at all to see people enter and barely anyone paid any heed. After a quick scan of the room, the redhead motioned towards the food, intent on getting something in her growling stomach. The brunette easily acquiesced and fell into place, both soon reaching the end of the line were a mass of people and champions were gathered to order their meal.

"-maybe blue would be a more decent colour for the folds?" A gruff voice said just ahead of them. It was easy to identify the mass of muscles and metal that was the Barbarian King, his hulking form covered in his plated pants and a simple shirt was void of his usual helmet or giant two-handed blade he wore into battle. His long onyx hair was tied in an unruly pony-tail formed at the base of his neck. He was calmly gesticulating something as he spoke to his companion, who was unsurprisingly the only archer in the whole pantheon of champions that wore a cowl and was themed in ice, the Frost Archer Ashe. Her snow-white hair was a stark contrast to her black cape and her soul-piercing ice-blue eyes were always seemingly sparkling with intelligence.

It was Ashe who first took notice of them and gave the customary stiff nod as a salutation to which both assassins replied in kind.

The movement was noticed by Tryndamere who turned around to face them. "Sinister Blade." He growled. "Fist of Shadow." Akali's title was said with more respect and less resentment.

Expected, considering Noxus' barbarian pacification campaign a while back. It was a rather gruesome endeavour for both factions, both sides suffering heavy losses when the Demacians decided to end it and sent their troops, which unfortunately turned the scuffle into a three-way free-for-all skirmish. It was the most chaotic war any of the three had ever entered and would certainly be the only one for a long time to come. That kind was avoided like the plague. You didn't know from where an enemy would pop-up, or if enemies from multiple sides appeared at the same time, things would spiral out of order and the soldiers had to battle on multiple sides at the same time. Even the strategists called it the "Nightmare War", trying to cover all possible scenarios that would only be discarded as the battle quickly deviated from their plans.

"Barbarian." Only the brunette dignified him with a response, Katarina preferring to cheekily keep silent and stare back.

Tryndamere's jaw clenched but said nothing. Glancing from one to the other a few times, his brow furrowed, their eyes conveyed nothing but at the same time shouted untold secrets. There was something different about them as well, something more... Innate. His mind finally clicked and he understood what it was. Just as he opened his mouth to comment on it, his eyes spotted their joined hands. His mouth closed and a malicious smirk stretched over it. "Well, well, well... I never figured you two..." He let his sentence hanging, leaving a confused Ashe and two uncaring assassins looking at him. "What? No witty response?"

Their constant silence irritated him more than any possible comeback they could have made. "Speak!" He bellowed, some of closer people looking their way in surprise.

"We do not have to talk about anything, Barbarian." Akali replied calmly and nonchalantly.

The warrior's back straightened to his full height in an intimidating pose, his eyes sparkling with anger. Ashe read the signs of an obvious eruption and placed a calming hand on his arm. He immediately looked at her, a pair of stoic and cold eyes glued to his own, their message clear. A sigh escaped him and he calmed down.

The assassins were equally surprised at the control the Archer had on the explosive Barbarian. Just a touch and a look and all his resolve crumbled. Was this why she was chosen as the Queen for the Avarosans?"Pardon my husband." Ashe said in her typically frosty voice.

The redhead simply waved her free hand dismissively, knowing the sharp-eyed Freljordian would look at both her hands out of reflex.

Ashe raised a curious brow a second later, like clockwork. Hesitating just for a split-second, she spoke. "Are you two...?" A finger was pointed at one and then directed at the other several times, universal sign for a couple.  
Katarina grinned and circled her arm around Akali's shoulders. "She played hard to get." The Ionian instantly shot her a disbelieving look. The nerve of her!

Ashe just blinked at such a direct response. "Congratulations, I guess?" She added.

"Heh. I had some respect for you two. Never thought you'd turn out to be a pair of rug-munchers." The Barbarian pointed out acidly, an attempt to get a rouse out of them.  
The death glare both sent them (as well as the very displeased stare her wife sent him), were enough proof of his success. Du Couteau was still a hot-head, but she seemed to hold some restraint now if her lack of bark at his comment was anything to go by. A curious change.

"And I suppose a big, strong man like you would show us what it's really like?" Even Akali herself was surprised at the barb she sent. Katarina did smirk in pride. Maybe she was rubbing off on her more than physically after all.

Tryndamere shrugged nonchalantly. If they replied, who was he to stop the trade? "My words exactly."

Akali bristled at the cheek the man had to actually insinuate such an outrageous thing. That she'd soil herself with such a dirty, uncouth... "Forget it. You never stood a chance in the Fields, you'll have less out of it."

Contrary to what would usually be a snarling reply and an angry charge, the hulking man guffawed in mirth, surprising both assassins and drawing a small smile on her wife's face. "I knew you couldn't have a stick up there all the time." He joked/sent the backtalk with a grin. "But you have to admit those battles are close." He added with a wink.

The sudden change in atmosphere to a more amicable surprised but eased the recent girlfriends. "That they are. Though you should be more wary of kiting." The Ionian decided to let slip his last comment if he was willing to be more friendly and less bursty.

He frowned. "And you're telling me this... Why?"

A dark grin split her face. "Handicap."

This produced another boisterous laugh from the Barbarian. Nodding a confirmation to himself, his hand fell on Akali's shoulder rather heavily, making her wince slightly. "Keep that stick out of your ass, this attitude suits you better." He then placed his other hand on Katarina's shoulder, to the same reaction, and stared firmly to her green eyes. "And if you fuck up with her, you'll regret it forever."

The redhead was silenced to inaction by the sudden prophecy the usually dense man gave. What did he know? And what could he see? A future for both of them together? There would be no future once she manhandled Akali to the Noxian High Command.

Tryndamere's hands fell from their shoulders. "So much speaking made me hungry!" He turned around, missing the snorts, and walked off to the food vendors with a yell: "Is it my turn already, you cheaters?!"

"Is he always like this?" Katarina asked the archer, who nodded back.

"He strongly believes that transparency and directness are the ways people will prospere and understand each other." She explained quickly. The redhead withheld from squirming guiltily at her words. The Avarosan glanced over her shoulder at her King. "It's our turn. See you around and congratulations again." She trotted off to get one of the two trays of food Tryndamere was holding.

"That's a side of him I'd never seen..." Katarina commented a minute later when they got their own food, sending a glance in the direction of the Freljordian royalty.

"Oh, I was equally surprised, Kitty. Where do we sit?" Both were standing abreast and scanning for good empty seats.

Looking around, the blade-master's attention was drawn by someone waving secretly at her. "There. Cass saved us a few seats in her 'Plateau', as she calls it."

Akali gave a forlorn look at the empty table she usually occupied with her fellow Kinkou, but they opted to have their lunch at the clinic. A lump grew in her throat as their latest discussion was replayed in her mind and their decision. She was still feeling disjointed about it, but somehow Katarina's never-changing attitude made it easier to bear, a constant in this ever-warping life of hers. Looking around, she noticed the redhead had gone a few steps ahead of her while she brooded.

"Plateau?" She asked when she rejoined Katarina.

"Yeah. According to her, it has a vantage view of all the hall and its happenings. She likes to be in the know and take care of her little grapevine."

"Cassiopeia's a... Gossip?" Akali asked incredulously. She had never taken the time to actually get to know the other Champion's hobbies other than those she interacted with, but to find the Noxian gorgon to be a gossiper, took her completely by surprise.

Katarina snorted. "Gossip? She redefines the word nosy."

Their chatter was soon cut short when they arrived to their destination, many eyes having turned towards the unusual pair now reaching an unusual place, comments and speculations soon erupted all around, initially in hushed tones but gradually less concealed.

"Cass." Katarina saluted familiarly and sat down.

"Sssissster." The younger sister nodded curtly back. Giving the newcomer a thorough once-over and a profound check-out, a glint surged in her eyes that Katarina knew would amuse her to no end. "I must say, those clothes accentuate your figure, but I prefer how you look in one of my sister's bedsheets."

All of Akali's blood rushed to her face in the blink of an eye. "I-I-" She stuttered, her mind coming blank at the sudden intimate comment from the gorgon. She glanced at her girlfriend for support, only to see her holding her stomach in peels of laughter.

Between laughs, the redhead spoke. "You broke her, Cass!"

The jeweled serpent smiled at the reaction she produced and her sister's reply. It was good to know she still had it.

Just when it was about to get awkward and was going to consider leaving, the redhead calmed down and circled her waist with an arm. "Sit, Princess. She's only joking."

Akali mutely obeyed and placed her tray before sitting down. Just how deep was she in the lion's den? Dealing with comments like that from the blade-master was not hard, knowing that they had seen, touched and even tasted each other's naked bodies, but the serpent making that kind of comments did not sit that well with her.

"Now that you're sitting, good day again, Akali." Cassiopeia said, her green eyes, which shared Katarina's shade, were still dancing in mirth.

"I- Good day as well, Serpent." She replied unsure, her previous distrust of the younger Du Couteau receding slightly.

The gorgon tutted. "You're my sister-in-law now, so none of that Title thing. Again?"

The Ionian blinked. What? "Good day again... Cassiopeia?" She offered and a pleased smile split the jeweled Serpent's face. What's her game? She acts so strange...

"Good enough. Now, how's the follow-up going?" She said diplomatically.

"Really, Cass? Really? Can't you ever stop gossiping?" Katarina said, a fork with some food pointed accusatorily at her younger sibling.

"You know me, sssissster." She replied, raising her hands in apology.

"You could at least stop when I present you my girlfriend, Cass."

"Oh, don't be like that, dear sssissster."

"Why do you speak so strange?" Akali blurted out, drawing their attention mid-discussion. Feeling their stares, she nonchalantly awaited their response and grabbed a bite. She wasn't really intimidated by this chatty Grim Sisters, more outlandish things had happened to her.

"I do not speak weird!" Cassiopeia exclaimed all of a sudden. She crossed her arms and frowned, much like a petulant child that didn't have their way.

"You keep stressing the 's', but only in 'sssissster'." Akali pointed out flatly.

The sisters shared a look. It was a pseudo-personal matter, but should they speak of it to someone they would eventually stab in the back? Cassiopeia's shrug was all the clearance needed. It did gave short pang of betrayal at how simply Cassiopeia shrugged it so easily.

"To put it simply, it's our endearing names. I call her 'sssisster' and she calls me 'Cass'." The gorgon explained matter-of-factly.

Curiosity about the backstory for such names spread through her, but Akali decided not to push it. Who knew the Grim Sisters had pet names for each other? It gave the unapproachable women an unseen endearing light. Her hand gave Katarina's a light squeeze and shot her a small smile. So the blood-thirsty actually had a very real mellow side. Even more than the glimpses she caught in their intimacy and interactions.

Katarina' lip slightly raised to a side in response. It was strangely pleasant for a rather out of the blue action.

"Oh, oh." Cassiopeia warned suddenly. "Captain McIdiot incoming."

Slumping her head, Katarina groaned. That was their codename for the senior Crownguard. What exactly did he want now? Every single time they interacted, it quickly devolved into a shouting match with threats and promises of pain thrown into the mix.

Soon enough, a tall and big shadow covered the elder Du Couteau. The three women paid no attention, one out of curiosity how it would turn out and the others out of a few seconds in silence, the owner of the shadow cleared his throat loudly, his patience waned.

Katarina slowly turned around and looked high up to Garen's stoic and frowning face. Just one look and she already wanted to bash it in."Yes?"

The Demacian's scarf and ever-present armour shielded most of his expressions from the three. "Her." He pointed a gauntlet-ed finger at Akali. "She isn't normally in your presence. I find that Noxians and sudden changes don't go well for others. What are your reasons for associating with a Kinkou?"

The inquisitive and almost tyrannical questioning from Garen spiked her fury from within like never before, as if a hidden burst of pure wrath surged through her veins, scalding her and incensing her even more. She was actually having a good, fun and rather enlightening day until this moron decided to show up. Raising to her feet, she eyed the soldier with a hard glare and an uncovered snarl. "And just who do you think you are to judge who I 'associate' with? Don't act so high and mighty just because you are a Demacian." Her sudden tirade was received with shock, if Garen's widened eyes were anything to go by. "If I decide to strip Akali and fuck her right here and right now, guess what you'll be able to do?" The Might of Demacia's brow raised in surprise. Was she ever so defensive or vulgar of his questionings? "Nothing! That's what! Now get out my face and take your little entourage with you. All of you are annoying and this is lunch time." She added motioning to the other three behind him now staring wide-eyed at the sudden and crude outburst from the redhead. She was normally acid and had a viper's tongue, but she was never so on guard, leaving time for others to reply so she could squash their words and continue her onslaught, just like in the Fields.

The elder Crownguard's jaw clenched with frustration but he knew that with those eyes he'd get nothing out of the fuming blade-master. But he couldn't resist having the last word. "This isn't over." He turned around and left under the constant glare of the Du Couteaus, followed by his fellow Demacians, who were eyeing him concernedly. Many onlookers that were already discussing the sudden closeness between the two most renowned assassins now had more fuel for their suppositions and inquiries, their volume once again raising to a noticeable murmur.

The three women watched them go in silence for a few seconds and then Katarina huffed and sat back down in a fit of anger.

"That bastard always pisses me off!" She stabbed her food viciously with her fork and savagely twisted it, imagining it was Garen's face.

"Sssissster..." Cass said soothingly, but it had no effect. The usual call for reason and calmness from the serpent was normally enough, but this time her anger was too great. It wasn't until Akali held her hand between hers, brought it to her face and, completely out of character, blew on it that she visibly calmed down and after a few seconds looked at the ninja blankly, almost asking what it was she had done and why. The ninja just stared back with amused eyes and didn't let go of the hand.

Cassiopeia watched the exchange and somehow couldn't avoid the pang in her heart that she was being replaced in her sister's world. She had been there from the start! She had proven her love for her sister over and over! Years and years the two sisters had been alone against the world, facing its harshness and unwelcoming people. Noxus was a hard place to live in as a woman, and for her militar training, Katarina had endured several stressing times that only she had been witness and confidant in. Many times she had suffered almost torturous treatment from her teachers and would-be peers, but her support and constant words of courage had hardened her heart to the point that she could simply shrug off any kind of verbal harassment. And now, some girl from way far decides to usurp her place? She had half a mind to rip the ninja to shreds just for her audacity and grab her sister back to her clutches.

Her eyes widened.

Was she actually resenting the person they'd condemn to an unlife?

The youngest Du Couteau mutely watched as Akali hugged her sister close and buried her head on the redhead's shoulder. Katarina glanced at her guiltily and encircled her arms around the Ionian and pulled her closer.

Their smile did not go unhidden and that was proof enough. The lump in Cassiopeia's heart clenched painfully as well as her killing intent.

She was horribly jealous of the ninja.

* * *

**Final note**: Did not expect that, did you? I am sure more than one of you are flabbergasted at the last scene. So Cassiopeia is green with envy because of the faux-closeness the two assassins now share. How would you react if the closest person to you left you in the sidelines just like that? I'd be pretty pissed too. However, her jealousy is conflicting with what she knows of the plan, and knows that Akali's freedom is coming to an end soon enough. Will she actually act on it before, though?

This chapter was meant to be way longer, but of the many interactions I wanted the duo to face, there were many redundant ones and the minority will come around in the next chapters, so it's a moot point. I admit it was a bit rushed and needs a bit more polish, but I wanted to get it out a lil' faster and let you speculate as you will.

Next chapter's title: _**Battle!**_ Take what you will from that. It's a fun chapter, so I'll actually try to get it soon enough. Also, Smut returns! Aren't I good with you, guys?

Give me a shout what you think of this chapter and what you like/dislike and forget to login so I can reply!

Later,

Soulcry.


	8. Chapter 8 - Blades, Bedsheets and More

******Disclaimer:** Riot Games owns all of this, you know?

**Author's Note**: Only three weeks this time! Free time at work is a wonder for writing this chapter...

On with it!

* * *

_**Chapter 8 – Blades, bedsheets and preparations**_

News of the couple's new status spread like wildfire. The Institute´s gossip network, kept well-greased and healthy by Cassiopeia's personal care, made it short work of letting every single echelon of the Summoners and Champions know about it even before they had concluded their meal. The reactions were various and incredibly diverse, from anger to laughter, from disbelief to a knowing smirk. It came mostly as a surprise to most, when they did hear about it. Some of them even had the urge to see for themselves if it was true or just a bad rumour from the grapevine. The mere sight of the couple together, interacting with each other and mostly oblivious to the outside world was proof enough that it was not another falacy spreading around.

The most courageous of those curious enough did not even want to disturb the pair during their lunch, having also heard what Garen had suffered at the sharp tongue of the redhead assassin. It wasn't that they feared her, but more that it wasn't worth the effort to deal with that attitude.

Thus, the Noxians and Ionian finished their meal without further disturbances, something they were grateful for.

"However, you shouldn't pay attention to that." Cassiopeia's voice rang out calmly.

"If you say so, Cass..." Katarina acknowledged with a nod.

The brunette Ionian took a quick glance at the giant clock over the entrance to the mess hall and took a sharp intake of air. "I have to go, I'm running late." She announced and quickly got to her feet and started to walk away in a hurry, taking her tray with her.

"No goodbye kiss?" The redhead pointed out at her back, a grin spreading on her lips as Akali halted her charge and zoomed back in a rush. Knowing the ninja had her hands busy, Katarina took advantage and cupped both her cheeks in a flash and pulled her down for a deep smooch. For a few seconds, their lips were melded together until the ninja decided she had run out of too much time and pulled back. "That's it?" Katarina commented with a pout.

"Oh, you're insatiable..." Akali muttered to the redhead's increasing grin. Leaning in, she whispered. "We'll see how much of that I can satiate tonight, hm?" Flashing a confident grin and wagging her brows suggestively, only visible to her girlfriend, the Ionian turned tail in and left running in the blink of an eye.

Katarina watched her go chuckling to herself. Oh, yes. She was rubbing off too much on her. A month ago she would've barely sputtered back a measly response, now she was actually flirting heavily back and retorting with the same gusto to the innuendos. She had come a long way from that professional and no-nonsense ninja all the way down to her playful and almost evocative persona. Just how much more would it take for her to take the plunge and say those three words that would seal her fate? It was getting incessant to deal with Akali daily, and worst of all, she was starting to like having her around more and more as the days passed. That would not do. Attachment to a mission's objective would only ruin her in the long run. She'd know, as she had suffered something similar in her days in the Noxian military.

No, it was better to just desensitize herself as much as possible and reinforce her mask.

Turning around, she was met with the frowning face of her sister. "What?"

Cassiopeia's brow furrowed deeper, her arms crossing tightly. "You are getting attached." It was not a question, and they both knew it.

The still-human Noxian sighed. Leave it to her sister to read her like a book. "I know."

"And you know what will happen." Her taloned hand clenched.

"I know." A resigned sigh escaped her.

"Then why aren't you doing anything to prevent it?" Cassiopeia pressed on.

"It's..." The elder Du Couteau stared in silence for some moments, trying to gather the words she was looking for. It was a simple matter to explain, but not of simple solution. "It's hard, Cass. It's so hard to put a knife on her back when she's like... like that!"

"Like what?"

Katarina shook her head. Such a simple action seemed to steel her resolve. "Doesn't matter, it will be done when the time comes."

"And if it doesn't?" Cassiopeia couldn't help but ask.

Her sister's haunted look spoke volumes.

Her silence even more.

* * *

"So, this is your room…" Katarina commented as soon as they entered, her head craning around, taking in every detail of the well-kept room. Her own was slightly in disarray most of the time since she was rarely in it to fully take care of it. For Akali, it seemed she was eternally organized and surgically precise in her endeavours. Her room was decorated simply, yet elegantly and with an aura of warmth and personal value.

The disposition of the room was the standard room plus a bathroom via an adjacent door. It was the contents that made the difference. The bed, which size was comparable to her king-sized one, was dressed with a simple black and green cover in a stripe design. There was the standard-sized closet sitting close by and next to the bed, a pair of bed-side tables stood.

However, the most prominent feature of the room, aside from a small banner which could only be the Kinkou symbol, was the myriad of weapons adorning the main wall, something that conquered the blademaster's attention instantly, her eyes gleaming in interest and glee. There were swords, axes, daggers, bows and some weapons she hadn't even heard of, and that was saying something. But the amount of steel and sheer sharpness of it all, its promise of untold amounts of bloodshed, of demonstrating battle superiority and the craft to make all those weapons made the redhead giddy.

Taking a hesitant step towards the filled wall, her eyes never left the instruments of war. After a few seconds, she seemed to remember where she was and looked sheepishly over her shoulder at the ninja who had been eyeing her intently since she had noticed the armory.

"M-may I?" Her tone was meek and reserved, almost reverent.

The blank-faced Akali nodded silently. She related completely to the euphoria the Noxian was feeling at the moment. She had been the exact same when she had been witness to the secluded personal armory of the Kinkou Head. So much metal shapes and forms she had been over-eager to start her training with all of them.

Now, watching her girlfriend tentatively walk towards the blades, she watched her motion to a pair of engraved short swords, similar in size to her current blades.

"Wait." She said tenderly and Katarina retreated her hands slightly, almost as if the words had burned her. "Try the long one on top of those."

The redhead nodded and very slowly unhooked the long sword from its place. Watching every detail, nook and cranny of it, she was slightly disappointed to find it the only thing to take into consideration of it was the hilt. Turning the sword in its scabbard, the hilt's details came into view and her brows shot up in surprise.

Lotus.

It was made to resemble a lotus, something that she found somehow warmed her heart and stretched a forlorn smile on her lips. Like an old friend she didn't know she missed.

Pulling the blade from its scabbard, a straight sword gleamed. The grip seemed custom-made for her, her fingers circling it like a glove. There were indentations on the lower half of the blade, like a serrated knife, and simple tribal engravings near the center of it. Her eyes followed its shape. This was a vicious weapon, and she liked it.

In a flash, Katarina slashed downward at an invisible enemy, testing its balance. Then she followed with a wide arc and then another, and another... Like a possessed warrior, the blademaster continued her dance in front of the avid stare of the sole spectator. Sweeping low, stabbing at the center then pulling back with a flourish to end her routine with a lethal diagonal slice that would've opened a wound on her opponent from the shoulder to the hip.

"Your stance is sloppy." Akali commented, bringing her out of her sword-high.

The Noxian turned to her girlfriend. "It's been a while since I've used a long sword."

"I could help you gain some skill back with that sword." Without waiting for an answer, the brunette walked over and gently pried the weapon and scabbard from Katarina. Re-sheathing it with a smile, she put it back in its place. "This one is special." She added in a soft tone. "It's with what I started my training." Akali suddenly looked up, memories of her training bubbling up in her mind. "It was originally made for my predecessor, but they never appeared. Mother still refuses to tell me who it is."

_A predecessor? An older brother or sister maybe?_ Katarina mused internally but decided to keep silent. _Wait, is?_

"But enough of that." Akali shook her head off that train of thought and closed the distance to Katarina. "We came here for something, yes?" A hand caressed the long crimson locks slowly down all the way to the tips.

The distinct shine of interest and want in her eyes made it obvious what she was talking about.

"Oh, I don't remember. Care to remind me?" The blademaster said foxily and without missing a beat, the usual Du Couteau grin plastered on her lips. Oh, these kind of games amused her to no end. And now that the ninja was an active player, it was all the more gratifying and enjoyable.

"You don't remember?" She shot her girlfriend a faux-pout. "Why should I remind you if you forget all the time?"

The redhead's arms circled her waist and pulled her close. Akali looked at her quizzically, but Katarina's grin widened for a second before she swooped down and captured her girlfriend's lips with her own. Their clash of mouths, tongues and heat lasted for a passionate and heated amount of minutes until it proved to be too much for their lungs and they pulled apart for ever precious oxygen, their breathing hard and laboured already. "How about that as a why?" She purred in Akali's ear. As always, her warm breath tickled the skin, forcing a slight shiver of excitement to run down her spine. It was that same shiver that got her going and attracted her to the pretty redhead more than anything. How with only a few words she literally melted in the assassin's arms. This shiver was what produced so much reaction within Akali, as at first she didn't understand how something so simple could bring her so much pleasure.

Withholding the urge to squeal in delight, the Ionian smirked gratifyingly and pushed Katarina back forcibly.

The look of surprise at the sudden action surprised her less than losing her footing, but instead of falling to the floor, she tripped very sloppily on top of the bed.

Looking up, Katarina opened her mouth to let out a rather harsh comeback but quickly closed it when Akali pounced on top of her on all fours, an unexpected Du Couteau grin playing on her visage.

"I hope you have some more explaining to do..." Pulling a hand behind her, the ninja deftly removed her hairbands and cloths keeping her hair in her customary pony-tail. The pair was instantly curtained by her long dark hair, the lights coming from the lanterns on the walls dimmed considerably within its confines.

"Oh, I can explain a lot of things..." The elder Du Couteau's purr was back full force, as well as that trickster smirk of hers. "For example, did you know you look ravishable in this outfit?"

Akali actually yelped when Katarina's hands possessively enveloped her backside and flexed her fingers into the supple flesh. Surprise soon gave way to interest and then to urging the redhead's enthralling ministrations. Low moans and gasps escaped Akali as the redhead played to her heart's content. She arched her back slightly to grant wider access and closed her eyes to better drown herself in the initial waves of the sea of bliss.

It would be a few minutes before the Noxian temporally lost interest in that particular section of her. The Ionian had it very clear that her derrière was what enticed Katarina the most about her figure, it did explain why the blademaster loved to appear behind her and press herself against her back, and also was made pretty obvious by the focus she always showed that particular area every time they reunited for their lengthy trysts.

As the beautiful redhead's hands left her backside, slowly trailing up to her waist, they stayed there and proceeded to caress it slowly and caringly. When their eyes met, there was barely a recognizable spark of coherent thought, both deadly women had let their primal urges free to do as they pleased.

"You look so... Hot in this outfit..." Katarina growled out, tugging upwards but with no success at the lower section of Akali's attire. That dress proved to be more form-fitting than her own clothes.

Deciding this was worth to play a little more, the brunette let go of her support and landed on her girlfriend, meshing their bodies together. A mischievous smile played on her lips. "So you have a nurse fetish?"

She just finished saying those words when her lips were captured in another scaldingly mind-blowing kiss.

"No..." The assassin replied haltingly, her breath all the more worked up. "I have a you in this outfit fetish..."

Akali's delighted squeal and subsequent looping of her arms behind the redhead's neck before locking their lips together assured Katarina that it was the right thing to say. Even more when the brunette's tongue imposed her entrance and proceeded to try to lap every confine of her mouth, almost shoving it down her throat as much as she could.

Katarina could not lie. It was a peculiar experience to be on the passive end of such a thorough exploration of oral cavities. One she intended to repeat often, if the incessant grinding of the brunette's body against hers continued to turn her on more and more as they got more desperate and needy.

A frustrated growl resounded like a furious animal deep in Akali's throat. Pulling back, there was a dangerous glare in her eyes. "Take them off!" She commanded imposingly, a hand leaving the Noxian's neck and pulling madly at her skin-tight top.

Katarina's brows shot up in amusement but moved to remove the clothing, though did not do so. Eyeing the ninja with a smile, she played with the hem of her top. There was no rush to give her what she wanted, she had to ascertain her carnal sovereignty over her girlfriend. She had created this necessitous monster and it fell on her shoulders to keep it on a tight leash. Figuratively and literally, she added mentally with a smirk.

Akali grew impatient and tried to force her to rush, but a quick and decisive slap on her hand halted her action.

The blademaster's grin widened and tutted her reproval. "Impatient much, my dear?"

The ninja nodded emphatically, which elicited a laugh from the quasi-stripping redhead.

"Being an honest girl deserves a reward." She winked playfully. Arching her back upwards for ease and in one simple movement left her bosom free to the world.

Staring mutely at the pair of mounds like a child discovering sweets for the first time, Akali glanced up at the entertained grin on Katarina's face.

"Can I?"

Another laugh and then a firm nod.

With sudden decisiveness, the Ionian enveloped her fingers around the objects of interest, feeling their softness and giving a tactual experimentation on par with their previous mouth-to-mouth impromptu war of tongues. Her tentative touch and meticulous enjoyment of the redhead's chest did not go without any response. The Noxian was also enjoying herself, if the moans and biting of her lower lip were any indication. This was just the beginning of their playing night, yet she was already looking forward to the next step in their bed-frolicking.

Akali's trained fingers deftly roamed unbidden the skin, playing, pinching and chafing it into oblivion. When she decided her fingers had their dose of revelry, a licentious smirk formed on her lips, something that if Katarina hadn't her brain turned to mush by the brunette's ministrations would have given her pause. Swooping down her head, the ninja quickly engulfed as much skin as she could. This new sensation tensed the redhead for a second, hesitation enough for the Ionian to suddenly and tautly suckle any available skin.

The blade master lost all control of her body and mind at that moment. Moans, squeals and uncontrolled shaking of her limbs were the positive feedback she gave her girlfriend. The combination of sensations muddled her reason and plunged her deep into the ocean of bliss she initially wetted Akali's feet in minutes before. Deep down, however, in what still remained of her conscious mind, she thrived on the success of her efforts, having unlocked and trained Akali's more libidinous aspect. The needy glint in the ninja's eyes, the almost desperate roaming of the Ionian's fingers over her body and the intense vigor the ninja put in her nursing of her breasts were proof enough of that accomplishment.

It would not do to let her steal the spotlight like this, though. Regaining control of her limbs, Katarina decided to fight fire with fire and proceeded to unbutton the nurse's dress with haste. The ninja, while preoccupied with gaining practice in her nursing baby impression, leant to a side to let her do as she pleased. Soon enough, the whole front of the dress was open and Akali's own mounds flopped to freedom from their tight confines.

As soon as the redhead returned in kind the ministrations she had received with her fingers, the fervent pace with which the ninja was lapping and squeezing Katarina was halved. "Two can… play that game…" The Noxian breathed through the copious moans , yelps and grunts, her smirk mirroring the lecherous one glued to Akali's lips.

There was no need at all for any kind of heating device when the two decided to go all out on each other. Enjoying the other's bare skin over their own as they diverted their attention to any section that struck their fancy at the moment. Their touch turned ardent and intense when clothing started leaping to the floor, their libido replying in kind and jet-packing to the stratosphere in mere seconds. It wasn't only their touch that was stimulated into overdrive as well, their sense of taste was equally piqued when they melded their lips and the saliva exchanging began in earnest. Even their sense of smell was worked when their imminent arousal flooded out to leave the few clothes they had remaining on unusable for a good while.

However, when things mixed, that's when things got interesting. For example, when Katarina's hand decided to be extremely adventurous and reached down for the lower undergarment, a mixture of smell and touch was formed. Akali stiffened at the sudden action but neither voiced a disapproval nor pulled away, spurring the assassin to cover her entire nether region with her fingers. Their act of love-making turned into a volcanic eruption of magnanimous proportions when the fingers slipped through the thin fabric and ravaged the area with expert effectiveness.

The Ionian's limbs soon lost any semblance of strength and failed her, forcing her to flop lifelessly on top of the redhead laying on the bed. The squirming continued with even more fervor than before and the whimpers turned into full-fledged squeals and screams as Katarina's digits continued to wreak havoc to Akali's womanhood. Feeling the spasming ninja on top of her with barely any clothes besides her leggins excited the blademaster more than any amount of bloodshed could at the moment. So, her already clouded mind decided to plunge even more into the chasm that was climaxing nirvana. The ninja yelped in surprise when their positions where reverted in the blink of an eye and she was left staring up at the bright emeralds. However her attention span was soon shattered when a deluge of pleasurable sensations invaded her mind from her chest and groin as the redhead's hands restarted their playful nature.

"Time to up the ante, don't you think?" Katarina said quizzically. The feebleminded nod was her only response, barely comprehending what was being said.

The blademaster grinned her characteristic Du Couteau trickster smirk and releasing Akali's chest worked out the belt holding her skin-tight pants in place. Removing said piece of garment proved to be more challenging as sweat and other lecherous fluids acted as glue to keep it against her. Growling her frustration, the Noxian forced both her hands to her pants and removed them in a single strong tug, leaving her dripping legs bare. A glance at her girlfriend and she understood she was a wreck. Hair fanned out everywhere, her eyes were out of focus, cheeks redder than a beet, breath laboured and her limbs had absolutely no strength left in them.

Lowering her own body on top of the ninja's, the feel of their sweaty contact combined with the feverish heat the pair exuded was enough to rekindle the fiery spark of their lust and arousal back into the inferno it normally was. A searing kiss was shared as their legs interlocked with each other and their chests clashed deliciously against each other. "No sleeping tonight, Princess…"

Akali smiled absent-mindedly her approval, her hazened reasoning enough to understand their carnal union would last well enough to lose all semblance of lucidity. Pulling down Katarina for another kiss, she shot a loving look at her girlfriend. "Night's young…"

The world melted as their blissful procession into oblivion continued well into the deep hours...

* * *

The Eye of Twilight was not having the best of days. It started well enough, waking up at the crack of dawn as was his usual routine, doing a minor set of exercises to fully jump-start both body and mind, a nice cup of tea followed by a shower was one of his best successions to tackle a long day in the Institute of War.

His mood took a blow as soon as he exited his room. A simple fact was that the doors to the room of each of the Kinkou did not have much distance between them, something that was planned for easier transition in case of an emergency. The doors themselves were not very thick as well, compared to others he had seen, something the Triumvirate did not mind since they had no secrets to hide from each other.

But did he really have to hear the loud sounds coming from Akali's room at six-thirty in the morning?

He didn't have anything against her being sexually active, even her mother knew she needed to blow off some steam considering the constant amount of stress the female Kinkou was put under daily, but did they have to be so vocal of their enjoyment?

Grumbling his frustration when a particularly loud and happy scream shattered the silence, he stalked off to his daily exercises.

Criss-crossing the corridors of the Institute of War, he was met with the early summoners and champions, with whom he crossed a few words with the more amicable ones. The menialities and mundane topics of chat quickly diverted his thoughts from the Fist of Shadow. As soon as he reached the fields outside the Institute, breathed in the morning air and looked up at the slowly rising sun, the las thing on his mind as he broke into a run was his female partner.

An hour later, and now completely active, Shen returned to the Kinkou wing and to his room. The lack of any noise did not even register since it was the norm in that area of the Institute.

Minutes after he had finished with his routine and was sitting on his couch, there was a knock on the door.

A summoner stood there, his cloak hiding his face as usual but he did not have any hostile aura or stance.

"Eye of Twilight." He began evenly.

"Yes?"

He presented an envelope. He instantly recognized it as a summons to a battle in the Fields. "You have been summoned to a battle today in the afternoon in Summoner's Rift. We ask you that you please be present half an hour before, as usual."

He took the envelope and nodded. It was an honour to be called to the Fields. He would not fail his Summoner. "Of course. Anything else?"

The summoner flinched at his question, like it was a sensitive topic. "There is one thing..." He said scratching the back of his head. "I was supposed to notify the Fist of Shadow and Sinister Blade, but Sinister Blade's sister told me she was with the Fist and there is no response when I knocked in her room."

I don't think they'd reply if only a while ago they were very much awake... He thought sourly. "I'll do it. They'll be there."

The look of appreciation the summoner sent him was response enough. "Thank you, Eye!"

The ninja waved dismissively. "Do not fret."

"I have to go and inform the rest. Thank you, again!" He half-bowed and in a second was gone down the corridor.

The leader of the Kinkou watched him go until he disappeared and then turned to the non-descript door that led to Akali's bed chambers. Where he was sure to run across the Noxian assassin that recently ensnared his companion.

Closing the door behind him, he sighed. No time like the present, he mused internally.

He knocked and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And knocked again a few more times and waited.

And waited.

And-

The door creaked open just a crack. The entering light illuminated only a single shining bright green eye. Obviously not Akali's own auburn iris. "Yes?" Came the croaky and tired voice of Sinister Blade. A second of silence as they mutually stared at each other. "Ah." She quipped in recognition. The door opened fully a second later and there stood Sinister Blade in all her glory, dressed in one of Akali's hugely-sized shirts. The same ones she loved to sleep in.

Something churned Shen's insides at seeing the level of intimacy the two women now shared. Lending personal clothing to another was just the confirmation that it was more than simple attachment to one another. Not for the first time since he had heard the news, Shen wanted confirmation that what his female partner was doing what was right and obeying her bodily urges or was being controlled by the Noxian in any shape or form. "Good morning." He greeted evenly. He may not particularly approve of her actions and attitude, but there was no reason not to be at least civil to Akali's love interest.

"Good-" She covered her mouth and released a loud yawn. "Ah, Morning." Trying to blink away her sleep, it was clear the woman was more interested in getting back to sleep than participating in the staring contest. "What was it?" She added as impatiently as her somnolence allowed her.

The Eye of Twilight did not even blink. "We have been summoned. Today in the afternoon."

Some of the drowsiness instantly left Katarina's eyes. Battling was something she enjoyed immensely, one of the few things. "Details?"

"None."

"Good." She smiled lightly. "I prefer it this way."

The masked man nodded, his task already done. "Inform Akali as well."

The beautiful redhead gave him a sharp military salute in mock fashion, a tired grin constantly glued to her lips. The shirt stretching around her figure. "Will do, boss."

He turned around and walked off, the sound of the door closing behind him reaching his ears.

He allowed the corner of his lips to raise into a phantom half-smile.

That had been the first civil conversation he had with the Noxian assassin in all the time the two had interacted in the Institute.

So she was capable of that, huh…

* * *

**Final note**: So I lied about the chapter title. Sue me.

I wanted to add the battle in this chapter actually, but I felt it was too much stuff meshed together in a single chapter. It might seem like this chapter has no development at all and only has a dedicated fanservice smut scene (I'm looking at you, turkey), but there are small tidbits to lay the foundation for things very much later on. Also, the opening courtain to an all-out battle in the Rift!

There might be a few typos here and there that I might have missed in my spell-checking, I apologize profusely for them. Also, I apologize for any previous glaring errors you notice in the earlier chapters. Having no beta has its downsides!

So, Katarina is conscious of her growing attachment to our dearest Kinkou. It's so obvious even her sister noticed it! Well, it's Cassie. She's bound to notice these details since she's a sucker for gossip and information. Of course, the gorgon is not quite happy with that development. Jealousy issues and all... ;)

A very smexy interaction between the two starring females should make strange things to your blood flow and pressure. If it didn't, I did something wrong and you must point out what I did to improve. I think it turned out okay, but I set a very high bar with the first chapter and I'm trying to live up to that expectation.

And lastly, the annoyed Eye of Twilight has a very minor interaction with Kitty. There weren't any social or attitude changes towards each other, but as said before, foundation for things very much later on.

As always, tell me what's wrong, what you liked and specially, what to improve! I'm always thriving to better myself as a writer and I can't do so blindly! :)

I created a forum just for this story in case you want to head down there and present your doubts. Always open for inquiries! Here: forum/Dancing-in-the-Shadows-Discussion/135072/ or in case it doesn't work, look up the forums in the League of Legends forums section.

Later,

Soulcry.


	9. Chapter 9 - Battle!

******Disclaimer:** Riot Games owns all of this, you know?

* * *

_**Chapter 9 - Battle!**_

Kohle Buonnavita was dying.

Sitting against the wall of the cargo bay of the ship he had smuggled himself onto, he reached that hard and cold truth.

Each breath was a supreme effort, the impossible pain of taking gulps of air shaking his very existence. His wounds, while treated minimally, were fatal. He knew he did not have much time, but his duty towards his city-nation overruled any other sense of self-preservation and his rage and indignation clouded his rationale. The information he had acquired was paramount to any other their mission could have gleamed.

Gasping and flinching when he moved much more brusquely than intended, he coughed violently, specks of blood mixed with spittle flew from his mouth. Holding his stomach to try and cover as much of his wounds as he could, he laid back against the wall on the cargo bay of the ship he had smuggled himself onto.

He knew the trip would be long, and he tried to rest, but his mind was on overdrive, the adrenaline keeping him alive and alert was still pumping heavily in his veins. Even the information he had come across was more than enough to produce such a powerful sense of disbelief that he didn't know if he would ever be able to go to sleep.

Instead of succumbing to an impossible snooze, his thoughts drifted back to that morning, when everything went to hell.

He remembered the chirping seagulls when he and his team had landed in the sandy shores of southern Ionia under the cover of the dawn and the flitting glances everyone spared to spot any onlookers that might know of their arrival. Quickly hiding their boat under the nearby bushes, the team gathered with practised ease to ascertain their goals and what would be their next step. A few of them were somewhat hesitant about gathering in unexplored or uncleared territory, but the sergeant's orders were supreme.

"Perimeter secure?" The gruff voice of the sergeant asked. Several curt nods were the reply. "Good." He withdrew an official-looking envelope form within his jacket. Breaking the seal on it, he pulled a few papers from it and after a quick read over them, he addressed his troops. "Alright. Standing orders from High Command are: infiltrate certain towns under the pretense of being adventurers wanting to settle down and gather as much information about the area adjacent to them as possible. Questions?"

A hand was raised.

"Yes?"

"Information pertaining?" One of the soldiers asked with decision.

"Anything relevant to chinks in the armour of Ionian military, landscape or social settings." He swept his eyes amongst the gathered, a hard gleam in them. "Remember, we are the spies and the front of Noxian intelligence. Wars are won by us before they start and wars are won by us despite they starting." He raised his fist to his chest. "Intelligence saves lives! We are Noxus' front! We do not fail! We will not fail!"

A subdued round of cheers resounded in the small clearing, the troops clearly pumped to begin their assignment.

"Dismissed!" Was the final order. Soon enough, the assembled scattered to pick up their equipment and change to their new garments. They would soon gather one final time to coordinate what town they would go to.

Five minutes later, the soldiers were in two crisp rows, awaiting their leader. He appeared dressed in simple but practical clothing, a far cry from his previous officer's attire, the Noxians already having changed. Taking one last scrutinizing glance at them, he spoke. "Towns will be divided by vast amounts of distance to avoid suspicion. This means you will not have any backup whatsoever, so don't fuck up. Your old uniforms must be disposed permanently." No one replied, as expected.

He opened his mouth to continue but no sound came out.

Or rather, a gurgle due to the lodged arrow in his throat.

Pandemonium ensued.

Instantly the troops ducked and dispersed to cover as quickly as they could, but another hail of arrows limited the survivors to nine of the original thirteen and the rest suffered a variety of wounds. Weapons were picked up in a flash, the soldiers prepared for the continuity of the attack, but the surprise onslaught was so out of the blue the efficiency of it was undeniable. The wounded were plenty and the disarray complete.

Silence stretched in the clearing for several seconds, but no other attack came. Only the pained grunts of the dying permeated the cowl of void that enveloped the clearing.

None of the Noxians dared leave their cover, not knowing where the enemy had struck, but they knew they were sitting ducks, since the attackers knew where they had hidden.

Kohle, standing behind a large tree with another soldier, glanced around, a sword firmly in his hand. His other hand was on the throbbing wound the lodged arrow opened in his thigh and another on the side of his stomach. He had suffered plenty more, but they were scratches mostly.

"Who are these bastards?" He heard his companion growl. Chances were their assailants were the Ionian guard or something worse.

A sudden scream sliced through the air far from his right. His head instantly whipped in that direction and inched his way around the bark to try and see what had happened.

He instantly wished he hadn't.

His worst fears were confirmed when he saw the person dressed from heads to toes, even their eyes were barely visible. Few groups in Valoran dressed like that and only one was active at the moment.

Leaning back into the safe cover of the tree, he took a calming breath.

"Kinkou. They are Kinkou." He breathed.

His companion cursed under his breath. "You sure?" At his nod, he let out another expletive. "How did they find out? This operation was handled by the High Command only!"

A steely resolve, forged by the previous speech of their sergeant and templated by their sense of duty surged in Kohle's chest. "We need to find out. And tell High Command."

Another bloodcurling scream. They were only seven now.

"And how do you propose that? We go and ask them nicely enough?!" His voice dripping with sarcasm.

The blank stare he received was answer enough.

"Oh, hell, no. No, no, no." He shook his head emphatically.

"I'll do it. I can't run away with a leg like this." He said motioning to the still inserted proyectile.

His companion stared at it for several seconds, something in his eyes changed, as if he had made his mind after a long internal debate. "I'll go. You stay here and hide. You're better than me at sneaking around, anyways."

Sounds of battle resounded nearby. That was their chance.

"Stay hidden under the camo cloak and keep an ear up!" He said taking the blade from Kohle's hand and shoving a piece of fabric painted in a variance of greens and browns. The only remarkable thing was that it changed colours slightly to camouflage better in its surroundings.

Before Kohle could reply, his companion was gone with a battlecry. Following his orders, he hid and waited through the sounds of metal clashing and grunts of effort and pain.

"You're not bad for a Kinkou!" He heard.

"And for a coward Noxian, you are quite bad."

Blades clashed again in several other spots in the forest, so all the other Noxians were involved in their own fights.

"How -hngh- did you -hah!- know?"

"As if I'd tell." Kohle could practically hear the smirk.

"We're not gonna get out of this one. You got reinforcements up ahead." The Noxian spy knew his comrade was fishing, really. They hadn't scouted that much ahead.

A resounding laugh. "Very well. I shall humour you as your last will."

Kohle ceased any and all movements to focus on what the Kinkou would say. This was the crux of the matter.

"Sinister Blade."

The world seemed to stop at that moment. Did he hear correctly? Sinister Blade? Loyal to a fault and die-hard patriot Sinister Blade had betrayed them? The same Sinister Blade that made it her everyday mission to demonstrate her alligeance to Noxus?

Kohle's shock mitigated any sense of fury or resentment he might have at the moment. So much was his surprise, he almost startled when someon passed by him.

Stifling a warning shout to his comrade, he watched in morbid resignation as his comrade was about to be back-stabbed.

He quickly gathered his wits and used the opportunity to inch further into thicker, harder to see through, folliage and flora.

As he crossed into a thick bush, which left him virtually invisible combined with the camo cloak, he overheard a pained yell from where he came.

He was the last one of their mission.

A tight lump grew in his throat. His companions had been slaughtered relentlessly due to Du Couteau's high treason. As a member of the intelligence division, such an act was the ultimate demonstration of cowardice.

His teeth clenched as a burning ember burned furiously in his chest.

That bitch would pay.

* * *

The Gathering Room was a spacious room shaped loosely like a circle. The disposition of the room was artistic, with carved columns rising at intervals mimicking the circle in a smaller radius all the way to a decorated ceiling. The magical painting adorning the roof themed ancient and forgotten creatures making battle with shrouded figures, a classic depiction of war with its iconic members. In the middle of room, a raised big circular dais sat, where ten pillars of light in two rows were shining. Around the dais, a variety of sitting implements were scattered where champions could lounge until it was time to hop on the dais and enter the pillars to be warped to their designated Field of Justice.

The gates to the room were wide open, which only happened when a match was about to start and then remained shut to all. Magics kept the place tidy and clean, despite the many kinds of entities that traipsed through it.

It was through this same gate that the famed female Ionian ninja, with a sulking Katarina Du Couteau behind, entered, both dressed in their classic green and black leather attires.

The previous occupants of the room's eyes instantly locked on the newcomers, observing quietly their movements.

Akali made a quick sweep of the present and instantly took note of the amicable but void of speech Sona sitting on one of the wider couches, letting her fingers dance to their leisure on the strings of her ehtwal; and also the dark and grim visage of Karthus, staring at them with just as equal silence as the Muse but with a great deal more determination shining through his dead eyes.

The brunette nodded respectfully at both, knowing they were very capable fighters in their own area, and proceeded to flop onto the farthest couch opposite from the door, which provided a pseudo-vantage point to take notice of any other happenings.

Looking at her girlfriend, her eyes became half-lidded in disbelief. "You still sour about that?"

The redhead looked back from the corner of her eyes and nodded.

Akali sighed and enveloped the Noxian in a warm hug. Why did she have to act like a child? A very cute child, at that. "You very well know how long a 'quickie' lasts us." She whispered, not wanting the others to know their intimate topic of dicussion.

Katarina had the decency to blush in embarrassment at being caught red-handed. "How can I resist when I have such a beautiful girlfriend?" She shot back just as softly, a sly grin playing on her lips, as was custommary.

A ball of fuzziness expanded in the ninja's chest hearing the sincere compliment, and she tried futely to fight it back as much as she could. It was in vain.

Turning just as red as the assassin, the brunette tightened her hug. "You know you're mean, right?"

A curious crimson brow shot up. "How so?"

"I have the need to reward you from that."

The smirk returned full-force after a quick glance at the gates. "What's stopping you, my dearest beautiful Princess?"

Any semblance of self-control the ninja had was squashed by the dangerously huge feeling of warmth wreaking havoc to her chest and launched herself without abandon at the redhead, firmly intent on showing exactly what she thought of her words and their effect.

The two occupants of the couch soon spiraled into a full-blown session of tongue-wrestling, mindless of their spectators.

Until a minute later someone stood in front of the oblivious duo and loudly cleared his throat.

This had the immediate effect of stopping them and making them look at the one who interrupted, their hands still all over each other.

The beet-red face of Akali immediately turned ashen and in the blink of an eye was putting her mask back in place and sitting rigidly. The redhead followed suit but at her own tranquil and careless pace.

The Eye of Twilight had his special Stern Stare fixed right on the brunette, and, as since her childhood, still produced a sense of extreme discomfort.

"I thought you had more restraint than to use the Gathering Room as an extra bedroom." Shen stated stoically. Katarina visibly scrunged her face to not let out a laugh at the mortified look on the Kinkou Princess' visage. Her rather childish plan to embarrass Akali worked wonders. And also as a test to know how much she could make the ninja do with feelings coming into play.

The senior ninja turned his gaze at the Noxian, but decided not to comment. Seeing the amused glint in Katarina's eyes, he understood his partner had been played into this situation and he couldn't really punish either for public display of affection if that wasn't the case. "Try to keep these at a minimum." As the designated ambassador of the Kinkou to the League, he had to maintain an image outside of the Kinkou temple.

"Of course." The brunette said, her mood low at the tongue-lashing she received.

Shen nodded and stepped towards the side of the couch, his gaze fixed on the entrance.

After a few moments of silence, Akali looked up at his senior. "Have you heard any news from mother?"

"Nothing. She sends her regards, though."

The Du Couteau heiress decided that menial talk was of no interest to her and closed her eyes, leaning back into the leather, but keeping a passive ear into the ninjas' conversation in case they slipped something important.

Then she was shaken.

The redhead was disoriented for an instant when everything was fuzzy and then it cleared, only to notice the amused stare of her girlfriend on her.

"Come on, Kitty. It's time." She said, offering a hand.

"Already?"

"You fell asleep, silly." The brunette chuckled.

"Oh." Looking around, the room was indeed filled with people. "What's our team?" She asked, the pair walking towards the dais.

"We're blue, and-"

"Wait, we?" Katarina interrupted.

"Yes, is it a problem?"

"What? No! You know we work well together. Both in the fields, and in bed." A suggestive wriggle of her brows was enough to force a playful swat from the Ionian.

"Kitty!" Blushing cutely, she furtively glanced around to check if anyone had overheard the redhead's remark. Composing herself, she continued. "Shen's our designated jungler and our bot lane's Ashe and Sona. You're mid and I'm top."

Katarina nodded. "Interesting line-up."

The pair climbed the few steps of he dais and assumed their position. They were the last there, which left the Noxian time to scrutinize the purple team.

That, however was the last thing in her mind when she hopped into the pillar and looked at the member opposite from her. A groan escaped her lips as frustration quickly enveloped her.

There, in front of the Noxian assassin was the only other Noxian that got on her nerves as to how any little mistake could and would be used against her. Katarina knew that she would need help against this particular opponent, but that didn't mean she'd back down from the challenge. She'd face her enemy proudly with her chin held high.

As the light surged, marking the beginning, the Du Couteau heiress sent a confident smirk at the person facing her.

LeBlanc smirked back.

* * *

As was the custom for their duels, the two mid-laners forwent the aid to their junglers and met in the middle before the minions had appeared, a prudent space between them. Both knew they wouldn't be able to kill each other as soon as they needed before the rest of their respective teams appeared.

"Ah, Du Couteau." The Deceiver spoke in her usual sultry but dangerous tone. "Back for our usual bouts?"

The redhead stared back mutely. Years of dealing with this woman taught her anything she said would be twisted and turned until something unknown came out.

Noting her silence, the staff-wielding staff mage chuckled. "So you have finally learned not to speak your mind. And I do so enjoyed our spiels." A quick glance around and she noticed, almost surprisingly that the miniature warriors had appeared and were in the middle of their savage and relentless battle.

Looking ahead, LeBlanc watched as the elder DuCouteau warily approached the more damaged ones and slashed a few, constantly glancing at her in case she was up to something. "If I didn't know, I'd say you're scared of me, Sinister Blade." She chuckled. Older people and more powerful were really frightened of her power, and not only her magics, the more influential, social power.

Receiving no response other hacking slashes amused the mage none. Where was the feisty, emotionally charged Sinister Blade she loved to challenge? This did not bode well at all. Inventiveness from the redhead was a bad sign for any of her enemies.

She was taken out of her reverie when a sailing blade was inches away from her face. With a quick reaction, she warped close to the assassin and unleashed her full barrage.

Through the immense damage, Katarina smirked and it sent warning bells all over her head. Warping back to her mark just in case, it proved to be the wrong thing to do when the Eye of Twilight sprung from a bush nearby and tackled her with his uncanny technique, forcing her to attack him.

Then she noticed a puff of smoke and her back exploded in pain. Ten blades had been lodged into her, and, even though her summoner had tried to flash her out of danger, she felt the burn of her enemy's summoner spell syphoning all remnants of her energy.

The sound of metal in the air made her admit that she had been outwitted for once. Katarina's silence and wariness had thrown her off, something she was not used to. It was an exciting surprise, though, and it promised much from who it came.

The Vorpal Blade finished their skirmish.

* * *

Sinister Blade sighed in relief. Watching the wicked mage go down in a flurry of metal, hearing the first blood given to her thanks to her summoner's customary use of his spells produced a sense of achievement. Beating the Deceiver in her own games was rare, and very satisfying.

After a quick return to the fountain and get geared accordingly, she came back to see her opponent blasting minions easily.

"Ah, back already?"

Do they all have to be so chatty? She thought sourly, a blade leaving her fingers to lodge in a minion and start bouncing to others. Such a trick was the reward of incessant hours of training and some control of her mind-bound blades.

LeBlanc seemed to take her silence to heart and followed her example, but this tine taking the offensive, forcing Katarina to stay on her toes and a hair-breadth away from teleporting back at the slightest sign of trouble.

"How's that plan going on?" The Deceiver suddenly spouted after long moments of no exchange.

The Du Couteau heiress halted for a second, granting the mage an opening that strangely was not taken advantage of. "You know?" She asked with a frown.

LeBlanc smiled. "So there is a plan, after all. I found it strange you never showed any interest in her before."

The redhead growled. She had been played like a fiddle. The mage hadn't known anything, but was fishing with the rumours and now caught the big one.

"You should tread carefully." The blue-haired mage said seriously. "There are several that want you to fail in whatever it is you're doing out of hate for your father."

Katarina eyed her with suspicion glinting. "Why do you even care?" She lowered her blades, all interest in the battle lost for now.

A smile stretched on the mage's lips. "I have my own agenda, and any little thing helps further it."

"Are you going to stop me?"

"What? No!" She laughed. "You wanted to play in the big leagues. Time for you to learn the fee." At Katarina's confused and wary look, she chuckled. "Enough chat for now. Let us entertain the masses."

With that, she went ultra-offensive, warping ahead and was about to unleash her full fury when a green and black blur appeared from a side bush and launched at her in the blink of an eye.

The Deceiver changed tactics and instantly warped back to her mark and retreated to the safety of the tower, knowing neither of the pair would dare assault her under the building at this point in the match and facing them was suicide without backup.

Her watchful eyes scanned the pair as they exchanged a few words and a wink from the redhead before the Fist of Shadow left a chuckling Katarina to her lane.

Well, that was certainly an interesting thing to see and hear. So the eldest Du Couteau wanted to join the league of schemers. Well, she had a long way to go before she matched Swain or herself. It was clear that being manipulative wasn't her niche, but her sister's.

She did have some promise, though.

She couldn't wait.

* * *

_Knock, knock_

"Mh…" A content mumble came from the bundle of fabric currently lying on top of the bed. It was a curious sight to see a hurricane-shaped mass in the middle of the bed, composed of sheets, pillows and bodies. "Kitty…" The Ionian ninja was submerged in a sea of warmth and comfort. A contented sigh escaped her and she shuffled into the source of her contentment. Said source wriggled the sheets closer, completely oblivious to the knocking on the door of their room.

They were resting after a surprisingly hard battle in the Rift, and they had earned it.

Others could wait.

Now was their moment to lounge in bed, basking in each other's heat and presence.

_Knock, knock_

The sound stirred the pair, but they made no notion to attend to it.

"I know you're in there!" A restless familiar voice hissed in exasperation. Clearly whatever they wanted was important, so as to interrupt their resting time.

The knocking continued.

"This day everybody's trying to bring the door down..." The redhead whispered to her other half, her tone slow with sleepiness, knowing the brunette was drowsily awake. Her words produced a faint sleepy chuckle from Akali.

"We'll have to reinforce it..."

_Knock, knock_

Both chuckled at the bad humour. "I'll go..." Katarina said resignedly. Trying to untangle herself from the ninja's limbs, it proved a hard thing to do when Akali underwent a clingy moment and refused to let go. With the brunette's shorter height, the assassin was forced to send a pointed humoured smirk at the top of Akali's head. "Please?"

"Mhh... no..." Akali's tone, while drowsy, was very much playful. "It's warm here..."

Katarina chuckled haughtily. "Princess, they won't let us alone." She said softly, holding the Ionian closer to herself, feeling her sigh in resignation.

"Fine, but you better-" She started but was interrupted.

"Will you cut it out?" Another familiar voice said sleepily from outside the room.

"Excuse me? Mind your own business." The original voice retorted and then the door was knocked again.

Curiosity overlapped their desire to remain in close proximity and under the covers. Akali let go of the redhead and the Noxian slowly disentangled herself from the sheets and her girlfriend. Getting up, she pulled a sheet to cover her modesty.

"Hey!" Akali exclaimed indignated at the removal of some heat.

Pulling the fabric around her figure, Katarina leant down and gave a smooch to the ninja. "I'll heat you up later." She said with a wink and a laugh when Akali blushed. The redhead walked to the door and opened it slightly to find herself spectator to a curious scene. Her sister had her taloned fist poised to knock again, a frustrated frown on her features. Down the Ionian hallway where Akali's room was located, on his door, was Kennen with his arms crossed and also frowning at the Gorgon.

An amused smile played on Katarina's lips. "Yes, Cass?"

The Serpent huffed. "Finally! I've been knocking for a minute already!"

"I know." Kennen quipped and Cassiopeia shot him a dirty look, a threatening growl deep in her throat. The yordle ninja raised his hands in a pacifying gesture, smiled good-naturedly and proceeded to walk into his room and close the door.

"Now that the nuisance is gone..." The Gorgon said hotly, turning to her sister. Her face contorted into a vicious and relentless scowl. "Sssissster, we need to talk." Her tone was not the usual business-like one. This was a dark and hateful one. Bells rang all over Katarina's head.

"Come on in." She moved to a side.

Slithering into the room, the sight of its amenities distracted her for a moment. Her inner gossip forced her to absorb every single detail from the room. From its weaponry, its furniture, to the ninja lying on the bed. Said ninja was covered in layers of sheets with only her eyes visible and was staring at the newcomer carefully from their confines, like a tiger stalking from the high grass.

Noticing who it was, Akali uncovered her face. "Ah, Cassiopeia. Good evening."

"Good evening." The Gorgon replied respectfully. Her mind wondered if perhaps the ninja was more child-like in private than her sister. Covering all but her face was something she had seen Katarina a few times when she had been an infant. "Good job in today's match. You were especially vicious against the Deceiver's attempts." Credit's due where it was due. Akali was not MVP for their match, but she managed to subdue the threat of the Deceiver and Karthus by herself.

Akali smiled wistfully at the memory, then it turned teasing. "Well, she wanted to kill my Kitty."

Katarina coughed uncomfortably. This was exactly what she was telling her sister a few days before. It was that same loving attitude that put blocks in her plans to use Akali as a source of information for Noxus. While she could be relentless and vicious, doing so to people she knew and was close to proved to be nigh-impossible. Akali was quickly becoming an irreplaceable person in her small social circle. This produced the current surge of unease in the redhead.

The Serpent and the Fist looked at Katarina. One frowning in displeasure and the other in amusement that her comments produced such an effect.

"What was it you wanted to say?"

Cassiopeia's displeasure and frown were more prominent. "You are needed in Noxus."

The assassin raised a curious brow. "I'll go next month, as I reported last time."

"No. You are needed _now_."Her tone was urgent and desperate, but shielded in a way only her sister could identify.

"Did something happen?"

"I cannot say."

After a few moments of silence, it was Akali who broke it. "I can leave if you need to talk..." She said motioning to get up.

"No. I mean I really cannot say. I have no idea what they want." Cassiopeia clarified with a shrug. "And this is your room. We are imposing enough."

"I'll leave tomorrow at break of dawn." Katarina announced with finality.

Cassiopeia nodded. "I will inform them. And I will accompany you." She moved towards the door, intent on getting it over with as soon as possible.

"They called for you too?"

"No, but I know how bored you get on High Command meetings." The serpent added with a wink and left the couple to their own.

Her sister's tone forbade Katarina from feeling any joy from her jokes. It was with a grim air that she locked the door and stepped back to the bed, mutely getting into the cove of sheets. Being called out of the blue was not normal procedure, unless there was an emergency. And, considering her status as one of the High Command, this must be a state emergency. Maybe their operations in Bilgewater were compromised? Or perhaps their silent sabotage of Demacia's supply lines were sprung. There were so many possible things that could have gone wrong that she had a vague idea about. Whatever it was, it must be important to call her back mid-season.

Akali, sensing her distress, decided to swap their comfort roles and assumed control, embracing the redhead close to her.

There was no need to say anything. Both understood intimately the woes of being an important character in the grand political scheme of their nation and that such duty never ended as long as they were called to fulfil it.

The ninja was soothingly caressing Katarina back to sleep when she remembered something the redhead had said minutes before. Also, it would help to distract her from thinking about whatever plagued her thoughts. "You promised to heat me a while back." She said nonchalantly. Katarina looked at her curiously, a playful glint in her eyes. "And I intend to collect."

As her lips planted on the Noxian's, intent on getting another night of no sleep, a regretful thought played on the back of her mind.

_Please forgive me..._

* * *

**Final note**: It's been more than a month since my last update, and I apologize. I was severly author blocked and my muse refused to give me ideas for this chapter. The worst of all, this is a key chapter since important stuff happens. Finally I managed to get something acceptable.

Originally, this chapter was more centered in the match itself, but my muse decided to finish her vacation early and provide with a much better and fitting idea for my plot. This might be a little deus ex machina to progress the story, but it has an explanation that will come up much later on (like, at the endgame or so).

This chapter also does not feature many relationship progressing moments, rather than some fluff. Intended, as this chapter marks the beginning of the end for the cutesy and loveable pairing to give way to a more intense plot. Some of you may give up on this story when stuff begins to happen next chapter and the following, but I promise I have some good ideas that will keep you hooked up.

If work and my timetable allows it, I'll begin with the writing of chapter 10 (wow! 10 already?) tomorrow at first hour. This will be a good chapter that I have plenty of ideas, so I assume it'll be one of the quicker chapters, but no promises.

Also, if someone has any images for a portrait for the story, I'd be much appreciated.

Later,

Soulcry.


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